A hűségidő hosszú, de a kiszállási díj nem olcsó.

In Hungarian, the verb to be is usually omitted in the 3rd person singular and plural present tense.

So:

• A hűségidő hosszú. = The loyalty period is long.
• A kiszállási díj nem olcsó. = The call-out/delivery fee is not cheap.

But in other persons, Hungarian does use the verb:

• Én fáradt vagyok. = I am tired.
• Te fáradt vagy. = You are tired.

This is one of the most important early patterns in Hungarian.

A is the Hungarian definite article, meaning the.

• A hűségidő = the loyalty period
• a kiszállási díj = the call-out/delivery fee

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

• a before most consonants
• az before vowels

For example:

• a ház = the house
• az autó = the car

Here both nouns begin with consonants, so a is used.

Yes, hűségidő is written as one compound word.

It is made up of:

• hűség = loyalty
• idő = time / period

Together, it means something like loyalty period, often referring to a contract commitment period.

Hungarian uses compound words very often, much more readily than English does. So where English might use two words, Hungarian may prefer one compound noun.

Kiszállási is an adjective formed from kiszállás.

Roughly:

• kiszáll = to go out / to come out / to get out
• kiszállás = going out / coming out / call-out
• kiszállási = related to a call-out / delivery / coming out

So kiszállási díj means a fee connected with coming out, delivery, or a service visit, depending on context.

The suffix -i often turns a noun into an adjective meaning related to or associated with something.

Because Hungarian normally uses an adjective-like form before another noun in this type of expression.

So:

• kiszállás = call-out / going out
• kiszállási = call-out-related
• kiszállási díj = literally call-out-related fee

This is a very common Hungarian pattern:

• iskola = school
• iskolai táska = school bag / literally school-related bag
• nyár = summer
• nyári szünet = summer holiday

So -i is doing important linking work here.

Because hosszú is not directly describing the noun inside the noun phrase. It is the predicate adjective: it tells you what the noun is.

Compare:

• a hosszú hűségidő = the long loyalty period
  Here, hosszú comes before the noun because it is part of the noun phrase.

• A hűségidő hosszú. = The loyalty period is long.
  Here, hosszú comes after because it is the predicate.

The same applies to:

• az olcsó díj = the cheap fee
• A díj olcsó. = The fee is cheap.

Both are possible, but they are not always exactly the same in tone.

• drága = expensive
• nem olcsó = not cheap

Nem olcsó can sound a little softer, less direct, or slightly more nuanced than drága. English does this too:

• It’s expensive.
• It’s not cheap.

Those are similar, but not always identical in tone.

So the sentence could have used drága, but nem olcsó is perfectly natural and may feel slightly less blunt.

De means but.

It connects two contrasting statements:

• A hűségidő hosszú = The loyalty period is long
• de a kiszállási díj nem olcsó = but the call-out/delivery fee is not cheap

It is a very common conjunction in Hungarian.

This sentence has fairly neutral word order.

• A hűségidő hosszú
• de a kiszállási díj nem olcsó

In Hungarian, word order is often influenced by focus and emphasis, but this sentence sounds like a straightforward statement.

If you changed the word order, you might create emphasis. For example:

• A kiszállási díj nem olcsó is neutral.
• Nem olcsó a kiszállási díj can put a bit more emphasis on not cheap.

So the original sentence is a good standard pattern.

A few useful pronunciation points:

• ű is a long front rounded vowel, somewhat like the German ü, but long.
• ő is also a long vowel, similar to German ö, but long.
• s in Hungarian is pronounced like English sh.
• sz is pronounced like English s.
• cs is pronounced like English ch.
• Stress is always on the first syllable of each word.

So roughly:

• hűségidő ≈ HUU-shayg-ee-dur
• kiszállási díj ≈ kee-SAAL-laa-shee deej

These are only rough English-friendly approximations, but they help with the main sounds.

Hungarian often uses the singular where English might sometimes use a plural in a more general way.

Here the sentence is talking about:

• the loyalty period
• the call-out/delivery fee

as specific contract features, so singular is natural.

Hungarian does use plurals, of course, but it does not always match English one-for-one. As a learner, it is best not to assume that if English would sometimes use a plural, Hungarian must do the same.

Yes, that would be grammatically correct.

It would mean:

• The loyalty period is long, but the call-out/delivery fee is expensive.

The difference is mostly one of tone:

• nem olcsó = not cheap
• drága = expensive

The original sentence may sound a bit less direct or slightly more conversational, but both are natural.

Everything here is in the nominative form, meaning the basic dictionary form.

• a hűségidő
• hosszú
• a kiszállási díj
• nem olcsó

There are no extra case endings here because the sentence is simply making statements of the type X is Y.

This makes it a useful beginner sentence: the challenge is not case endings, but rather things like compounds, adjective formation, and the missing is.