Questions & Answers about Ez a fotó egyedi.
Why does the sentence use ez a instead of just ez?
In Hungarian, when a demonstrative like ez (this) comes before a noun, it is normally followed by the definite article too:
- ez a fotó = this photo
- az a ház = that house
So ez a fotó is the standard way to say this photo.
Saying ez fotó would sound incorrect in standard Hungarian.
What exactly does ez a fotó mean word by word?
Word by word:
- ez = this
- a = the
- fotó = photo
But you should understand ez a fotó as one unit meaning this photo, not as a strange literal phrase like this the photo in English. Hungarian simply uses this structure.
Why is it a fotó and not az fotó?
Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:
- a before consonant sounds
- az before vowel sounds
Since fotó begins with f, which is a consonant, the correct form is a fotó.
Compare:
- a fotó = the photo
- az alma = the apple
Where is the word is in the sentence?