Az eszköz a dobozban van.

to be

Breakdown of Az eszköz a dobozban van.

• az: the
• doboz: the box
• eszköz: a tool or device

Questions & Answers about Az eszköz a dobozban van.

Why is it Az eszköz but a dobozban?

A and az are the same definite article, meaning the. Hungarian uses:

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

So you say az eszköz because eszköz begins with a vowel, and a dobozban because dobozban begins with a consonant.

Why are there two words meaning the in this sentence?

Because there are two separate noun phrases:

• az eszköz = the device/tool
• a dobozban = in the box

Hungarian often uses articles much like English does, so it is normal to have two definite articles in a sentence like this.

What does -ban mean?

-ban is a case ending meaning in or inside.

So:

• doboz = box
• dobozban = in the box

This case is called the inessive case.

Why is dobozban one word instead of ?