Az olvasójegy új.

In Hungarian, the verb van (to be) is usually left out in the present tense when the subject is third person singular or plural.

So:

• Az olvasójegy új. = The library card is new.
• not normally Az olvasójegy van új.

This is a very common pattern in Hungarian. You do use forms of to be in other persons, for example:

• Új vagyok. = I am new.
• Új vagy. = You are new.

But with he/she/it or they in the present tense, Hungarian usually omits it.

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

• a
• az

Which one you use depends on the sound at the beginning of the next word:

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

Since olvasójegy begins with o, a vowel, the correct form is:

• az olvasójegy

Compare:

• a könyv = the book
• az asztal = the table

So az here is purely about pronunciation.

Olvasójegy is a compound noun. It is commonly used for a library card or reader’s card.

It is made up of:

• olvasó = reader / reading
• jegy = ticket, pass, card, or slip, depending on context

In compounds, Hungarian often joins words together into one long noun. So instead of using several separate words like English often does, Hungarian frequently creates a single compound word.

That is the normal place for the predicate adjective in a simple neutral sentence like this.

Structure here:

• Az olvasójegy = the subject
• új = the predicate adjective

So the sentence is literally structured like:

• The library card new.

Because the present-tense is is omitted, the adjective simply appears after the noun phrase.

This word order is neutral and natural. Hungarian word order can change for emphasis, but Az olvasójegy új is the basic, unmarked version.

Yes, you could, but it changes the emphasis.

• Az olvasójegy új. = neutral statement: The library card is new.
• Új az olvasójegy. = emphasis on new: The library card is new / It’s the library card that is new

Hungarian word order is strongly connected to focus and emphasis, so moving words around often does not make the sentence wrong, but it does change what sounds most important.

Because az means the, while egy means a/an or sometimes one.

So:

• Az olvasójegy új. = The library card is new.
• Egy olvasójegy új. = A library card is new.

The second one is grammatically possible, but it would usually only make sense in a special context, because English also would not often say A library card is new without more context.

So in this sentence, az is used because we are talking about a specific card.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

• ol-va-SHOO-yedj

More carefully:

• o is like the o in British hot
• s in Hungarian is pronounced sh
• ó is a long o
• j is like English y
• e is like e in bed
• gy is a soft consonant somewhat like the dy sound in during for many English speakers, though not exactly the same

A rough IPA version is:

• olvasójegy → /ˈolvɒʃoːjɛɟ/

The main stress in Hungarian is almost always on the first syllable, so:

• OL-va-shó-jegy

Új is pronounced roughly like:

• oo-y

The ú is a long vowel, and j sounds like English y.

So it is approximately:

• /uːj/

Be careful not to pronounce the j like English j in jam. In Hungarian, j is a y sound.

The accent marks in Hungarian are very important because they usually show vowel length.

For example:

• o and ó are different vowels
• u and ú are different vowels

In many cases, changing vowel length can change the word entirely. So the accents are not optional spelling marks; they are part of the word.

In this sentence:

• olvasó has a long ó
• új has a long ú

You should learn Hungarian words with their accents from the beginning.

It is singular.

If it were plural, you would normally see the plural ending -k:

• olvasójegyek = library cards

Then the sentence would be:

• Az olvasójegyek újak. = The library cards are new.

Notice that in the plural, the adjective also changes:

• új → újak

So the original sentence is clearly singular:

• Az olvasójegy új.

In Hungarian, adjectives used predicatively sometimes stay in a basic form in the singular, as here:

• Az olvasójegy új.

Since the subject is singular, új also stays singular/basic.

In the plural, Hungarian often marks the adjective too:

• A könyvek újak. = The books are new.

So in your sentence, nothing extra is needed because the subject is singular.

Hungarian normally stresses the first syllable of each word.

So the sentence is pronounced roughly with stress like this:

• AZ OLvasójegy ÚJ

More naturally by word:

• AZ
• OLvasójegy
• ÚJ

This is different from English, where stress can move around more unpredictably. Hungarian word stress is much more regular, which is helpful for learners.