A háztartási gép új.

The household appliance is new.

Breakdown of A háztartási gép új.

• új: new
• az: the
• háztartási gép: a household appliance

Questions & Answers about A háztartási gép új.

What does a mean here, and why is it a instead of az?

A is the definite article, so it means the.

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

• a before a consonant sound
• az before a vowel sound

Since háztartási starts with h, which is a consonant sound, Hungarian uses a:

• a háztartási gép = the household appliance

Compare:

• a gép = the machine/appliance
• az autó = the car

Why is there no word for is in the sentence?

In Hungarian, the verb to be is often left out in the present tense when the subject is third person and the predicate is a noun or adjective.

So:

• A háztartási gép új. = The household appliance is new.

There is no written is, but it is understood.

This happens very often in Hungarian:

• A ház nagy. = The house is big.
• A könyv érdekes. = The book is interesting.

But the verb does appear in other persons or tenses, for example:

• Új vagyok. = I am new.
• Új volt. = It was new.

Why does új come after the noun instead of before it?