A szomszéd zajong, majd lehalkítja a zenét.

The neighbour makes noise and then turns down the music.

Breakdown of A szomszéd zajong, majd lehalkítja a zenét.

• zene: the music
• majd: then
• az: the
• szomszéd: the neighbor

Questions & Answers about A szomszéd zajong, majd lehalkítja a zenét.

Why is there a before szomszéd and zenét?

A is the Hungarian definite article, like the in English.

• a szomszéd = the neighbor
• a zenét = the music (here in object form)

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

• a before a consonant: a szomszéd
• az before a vowel: az ember

So here a is used because both szomszéd and zene begin with consonants.

Does szomszéd mean a male neighbor or a female neighbor?

Neither specifically. Szomszéd is gender-neutral.

Hungarian does not usually mark grammatical gender the way English does with he/she or nouns like actor/actress. So a szomszéd can mean:

• the neighbor (male)
• the neighbor (female)

You need context if gender matters.

What exactly does zajong mean?