Questions & Answers about A bíróság a városban van.
Why is a used twice in A bíróság a városban van?
Because a is the Hungarian definite article, meaning the.
Hungarian uses the article separately before each definite noun phrase:
- a bíróság = the court
- a városban = in the city
Even though városban already has the ending -ban, the article still stays as a separate word.
Why is it a, not az?
Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:
- a before a consonant sound
- az before a vowel sound
So:
- a bíróság because bíróság begins with b
- a városban because városban begins with v
This works a bit like English a/an, except Hungarian does it with the definite article instead.
What does városban mean, and why is it one word?