Ez egy nehéz év.

A natural word-by-word breakdown is:

• Ez = this
• egy = a / an
• nehéz = difficult / hard
• év = year

So the structure is literally:

• Ez = This
• egy nehéz év = a difficult year

In smoother English: This is a difficult year.

Because in Hungarian, the verb to be is often left out in the present tense, third person.

So where English says:

• This is a difficult year.

Hungarian simply says:

• Ez egy nehéz év.

This happens very often with sentences like:

• Ez jó. = This is good.
• A ház nagy. = The house is big.

But the verb appears in other persons or tenses, for example:

• Én fáradt vagyok. = I am tired.
• Ez egy nehéz év volt. = This was a difficult year.

Here, egy means a/an, the indefinite article.

So:

• egy nehéz év = a difficult year

Hungarian uses the same word, egy, for both:

• one
• a/an

Usually the meaning is clear from context.

In this sentence, the normal reading is a difficult year, not one difficult year.

Normally, no. Ez nehéz év sounds unnatural in standard Hungarian.

With a countable noun like év (year), Hungarian normally uses egy when the meaning is indefinite:

• Ez egy nehéz év. = This is a difficult year.

So in this sentence, egy is the natural choice.

Because ez is standing alone as a pronoun here: this.

In Ez egy nehéz év., the sentence means:

• This is a difficult year.

But when this directly modifies a noun, Hungarian usually uses:

• ez a / ez az

For example:

• ez az év = this year

So compare:

• Ez egy nehéz év. = This is a difficult year.
• Ez az év nehéz. = This year is difficult.

That is a very important difference.

They are close in meaning, but the structure is different.

• Ez egy nehéz év. = This is a difficult year.

  • Ez = this as a pronoun
  • The sentence identifies this as a difficult year

• Ez az év nehéz. = This year is difficult.

  • ez az év = this year
  • Now this year is the subject

In many situations, both could fit, but they are not grammatically the same.

Not in this position.

In Hungarian, adjectives before a noun usually do not agree with it in number or gender.

So:

• nehéz év = difficult year
• nehéz évek = difficult years

Notice that nehéz stays the same.

Also, Hungarian has no grammatical gender, so there is no masculine/feminine adjective agreement like in some other languages.

The sentence Ez egy nehéz év. is the neutral, straightforward order.

Hungarian word order is more flexible than English, but changes in order often change emphasis or focus.

So this version is the best basic one for learners:

• Ez egy nehéz év.

You may also see other orders in special contexts, but they are not the neutral starting point.

A rough pronunciation guide:

• Ez ≈ ez with a short e
• egy ≈ something like edgy, but with a softer final sound
• nehéz ≈ neh-hayz
• év ≈ a long ayv

A few helpful points:

• Hungarian stress is normally on the first syllable of each word.
• é is a long vowel.
• z in nehéz is pronounced like English z in zoo.

So nehéz év has a long, clear é in both words.

It is in the basic dictionary form, the nominative.

There is no special ending on év here because it is part of the predicate noun phrase:

• egy nehéz év = a difficult year

So this sentence is a simple identification/description sentence, with no extra case ending needed on év.