A folyóirat új.

The periodical is new.

Breakdown of A folyóirat új.

• új: new
• az: the
• folyóirat: a periodical or journal

Questions & Answers about A folyóirat új.

What does a mean here?

A is the Hungarian definite article, so it means the.

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

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

So:

• a folyóirat = the journal / the magazine
• az ablak = the window

It does not depend on gender, because Hungarian has no grammatical gender.

Why isn’t there a word for is in this sentence?

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

So:

• A folyóirat új. = The journal is new.

There is no visible word for is, but the sentence is completely normal and complete.

Compare:

• Én új vagyok. = I am new.
• Te új vagy. = You are new.
• A folyóirat új. = The journal is new.

In first and second person, the verb appears:

• vagyok = am
• vagy = are

But in third person in this kind of sentence, it is normally omitted.