A lencse tiszta.

the

Breakdown of A lencse tiszta.

• tiszta: clean
• lencse: a lens

Questions & Answers about A lencse tiszta.

Why is there no word for is in A lencse tiszta?

In Hungarian, the present-tense form of to be is usually left out in simple third-person sentences like this one.

So:

• A lencse tiszta. = The lens is clean.

This is normal Hungarian, not an omission or a shortcut.

You do use to be in other persons and tenses, for example:

• Tiszta vagyok. = I am clean.
• A lencse tiszta volt. = The lens was clean.

So the missing is is one of the first big differences English speakers notice.

What does a mean here, and why is it not az or egy?

A is the definite article, so it means the.

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

• a before consonant sounds
• az before vowel sounds

Since lencse begins with l, you use a:

• a lencse = the lens

Egy means a/an or one, so that would make the noun indefinite:

• egy lencse = a lens

So a lencse means a specific, identifiable lens, not just any lens.