Ez egy nehéz év.

this

Breakdown of Ez egy nehéz év.

• egy: a
• nehéz: difficult
• év: a year

Questions & Answers about Ez egy nehéz év.

What does each word do in 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.

Why is there no word for is in the sentence?

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.

What does mean here? Is it or ?