Questions & Answers about Ez a szolgáltatás fontos.
Why is there no word for is in Ez a szolgáltatás fontos?
In Hungarian, the verb to be is usually left out in the present tense, third person.
So instead of saying:
- Ez a szolgáltatás fontos. = This service is important.
Hungarian does not need a separate word for is here.
But in other persons, you do use the verb:
- Én fontos vagyok. = I am important.
- Te fontos vagy. = You are important.
So this omission is a normal feature of Hungarian grammar.
What does ez mean, and why is it followed by a?
Ez means this.
In Ez a szolgáltatás, the structure is literally something like:
- ez = this
- a szolgáltatás = the service
So the whole phrase means this service.
Hungarian often uses a demonstrative like ez together with the definite article a / az:
- ez a ház = this house
- ez a könyv = this book
- ez a szolgáltatás = this service
That may feel unusual to an English speaker, because English does not say this the service, but Hungarian does.