Köd van.

to be

Breakdown of Köd van.

• köd: fog

Questions & Answers about Köd van.

Why is van used here? Doesn’t Hungarian often leave out is in the present tense?

Yes, Hungarian often leaves out the present-tense form of to be in sentences like:

• A ház nagy. = The house is big.
• Ő tanár. = He/She is a teacher.

But Köd van. is different. Here van does not just link two things like English is. It expresses existence/presence, more like there is in English.

So:

• Köd van. = literally Fog is / There is fog
• not a simple X is Y sentence

That is why van stays.

Why is there no article before köd?

In Hungarian, general weather or environmental conditions often appear without an article.

So Köd van. means There is fog / It is foggy, not There is a specific fog.

Using an article here would usually sound unnatural in this basic weather statement. Hungarian often treats these as general conditions:

• Hideg van. = It is cold.
• Meleg van. = It is warm.
• Szél van. = It is windy / There is wind.
• Köd van. = It is foggy / There is fog.

Is there a hidden subject, like it in It is foggy?