Az erkölcsi döntés nehéz.

Az is the definite article, meaning the.

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

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

Since erkölcsi begins with a vowel sound, Hungarian uses az:

• az erkölcsi döntés = the moral decision

This is similar to the way English uses a/an, except Hungarian does it with the definite article too.

Both are possible, but they mean slightly different things.

• az erkölcsi döntés = the moral decision
• erkölcsi döntés = a moral decision or moral decision-making / moral decision in a more general sense, depending on context

So the article makes the noun phrase definite. In this sentence, it refers to a specific moral decision, or at least presents it as a definite one.

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

So:

• Az erkölcsi döntés nehéz. = The moral decision is difficult.

There is no visible word for is, but it is understood.

Compare:

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

Only the third person present typically drops the verb.

Erkölcsi is an adjective meaning moral.

It comes from the noun erkölcs meaning morality or ethics, plus the suffix -i, which often creates an adjective meaning something like related to or pertaining to.

So:

• erkölcs = morality, morals
• erkölcsi = moral, ethical

This -i adjective pattern is very common in Hungarian.

In Hungarian, adjectives used before a noun do not agree with the noun in number or case the way they often do in many Indo-European languages.

So the adjective stays the same:

• erkölcsi döntés = moral decision
• erkölcsi döntések = moral decisions

Notice that erkölcsi does not change, even though döntés becomes plural.

This is normal in Hungarian.

Döntés means decision.

It is related to the verb dönteni, which means to decide.

A very common Hungarian pattern is:

• verb stem + -ás / -és → action noun

So:

• dönteni = to decide
• döntés = decision

This is somewhat similar to English pairs like to decide → decision, though the formation in Hungarian is much more regular.

Here nehéz is the predicate adjective: difficult.

A neutral Hungarian sentence often places:

1. the topic first
2. then the comment about it

So:

• Az erkölcsi döntés = the topic
• nehéz = what is being said about it

This makes the sentence feel natural and neutral:

• Az erkölcsi döntés nehéz.

Hungarian word order is flexible, but it is strongly connected to topic and focus, not just fixed subject-verb-object rules.

Yes, but a different word order usually changes the emphasis.

For example:

• Az erkölcsi döntés nehéz. = neutral: The moral decision is difficult.
• Nehéz az erkölcsi döntés. = puts more emphasis on difficult, something like The moral decision is difficult / It’s the moral decision that’s difficult.

So both are possible, but the original version is the more neutral textbook-style sentence.

A rough pronunciation is:

• erkölcsi ≈ ER-kuhl-chee

A few details:

• ö is like the vowel in German schön or French peu
• cs is pronounced like ch in church
• stress in Hungarian is always on the first syllable

So the stress is on ER:

• ER-köl-csi

A rough pronunciation is:

• döntés ≈ DUHN-taysh

More exactly:

• ö is the front rounded vowel
• é is a long vowel, roughly like ay in say, but pure and longer
• s in Hungarian is pronounced sh
• stress is on the first syllable: DÖN-tés

So the final s is not an English s sound.

This is a very useful question, because both can relate to morality, but they are not the same.

• erkölcsi = moral, ethical, relating to morality in a general or abstract sense
• erkölcsös = moral, virtuous, decent in the sense of a person’s behavior or character

So in this sentence, erkölcsi döntés is correct because it means a moral/ethical decision.

You would more naturally use erkölcsös for a person or behavior:

• erkölcsös ember = a moral/virtuous person

It can mean both, depending on context.

• nehéz táska = a heavy bag
• nehéz kérdés = a difficult question
• Az erkölcsi döntés nehéz. = The moral decision is difficult.

This is normal in Hungarian. Just like English hard can mean both physical hardness and difficulty, Hungarian nehéz extends from physical heaviness to difficulty.

No. All three words are in their basic dictionary-like form here.

• az = definite article
• erkölcsi döntés = subject in the nominative
• nehéz = adjective used predicatively

There is no visible case ending because the subject is in the basic form. This is one reason the sentence looks quite compact.