A félárnyék hűvös.

the

Breakdown of A félárnyék hűvös.

• hűvös: cool
• félárnyék: partial shade

Questions & Answers about A félárnyék hűvös.

What does a mean in A félárnyék hűvös?

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

So the structure is:

• a = the
• félárnyék = partial shade / half-shade
• hűvös = cool

Hungarian uses a before words beginning with most consonants. Before a vowel, the definite article is usually az.

Examples:

• a ház = the house
• az alma = the apple

In a sentence like this, a can also be used in a fairly general sense, not only for one very specific physical patch of shade.

Why is there no word for is in the sentence?

In Hungarian, the verb to be is usually omitted in the present tense, third person when you are linking a subject and a noun or adjective.

So:

• A félárnyék hűvös. = The partial shade is cool.

But Hungarian does not normally say A félárnyék van hűvös here. That would be wrong.

Compare:

• Én fáradt vagyok. = I am tired.
• Te fáradt vagy. = You are tired.
• Ő fáradt. = He/she is tired.

Notice that in third person singular, the present-tense is disappears.

What exactly does félárnyék mean?