Az épület régi.

The building is old.

Breakdown of Az épület régi.

• az: the
• régi: old
• épület: a building

Questions & Answers about Az épület régi.

What does az mean, and why is it az instead of a?

Az means the.

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

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

Because épület begins with é, you say az épület.

Compare:

• a ház = the house
• az épület = the building

Why is there no word for is in this sentence?

In Hungarian, the verb van = to be is usually omitted in the present tense, third person when the predicate is a noun or adjective.

So:

• Az épület régi. literally looks like The building old.
• But it means The building is old.

This is completely normal Hungarian.

However, in other tenses, the verb does appear:

• Az épület régi volt. = The building was old.
• Az épület régi lesz. = The building will be old.

Why does régi come after épület?