A meglepetés sikeres.

The surprise is a success.

Breakdown of A meglepetés sikeres.

• az: the
• sikeres: successful
• meglepetés: a surprise

Questions & Answers about A meglepetés sikeres.

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

A is the Hungarian definite article, equivalent to the in English.

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

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

Since meglepetés begins with m, a consonant, the correct form is a meglepetés.

Examples:

• a ház = the house
• az alma = the apple

Where is the word is?

In Hungarian, the verb to be is often omitted in the present tense, in the third person singular and plural.

So:

• A meglepetés sikeres. literally looks like The surprise successful.
• But it means The surprise is successful.

This is completely normal Hungarian.

Compare:

• Én fáradt vagyok. = I am tired.
• Te fáradt vagy. = You are tired.
• Ő fáradt. = He/She is tired.

Notice that in the third person, the present-tense van is usually left out in simple statements.

What form is meglepetés in?