Ez egy nagy nemzet.

In Hungarian, the verb to be is often left out in the present tense, third person when the predicate is a noun or adjective.

So:

• Ez egy nagy nemzet. = This is a great/big nation.
• Ez nagy. = This is big.

But in other persons, you do use the verb:

• Én magyar vagyok. = I am Hungarian.
• Te fáradt vagy. = You are tired.

So the missing is here is completely normal.

Ez means this.

It is the standalone demonstrative pronoun this. In this sentence, it works like the English this in This is...

A useful comparison:

• Ez egy nagy nemzet. = This is a great/big nation.
• Ez a nemzet nagy. = This nation is big.

Notice that before a noun directly, Hungarian usually uses ez a... or az a...

• ez a nemzet = this nation
• az a nemzet = that nation

But in your sentence, ez stands on its own, so ez by itself is correct.

Here, egy is functioning as the indefinite article, like English a/an.

So:

• egy nemzet = a nation

Hungarian uses the same word egy for both:

• one
• a/an

Usually the meaning is clear from context.

For example:

• Ez egy nemzet. = This is a nation.
• Egy nemzet. could also mean One nation, depending on context and emphasis.

In your sentence, it is most naturally understood as a.

Because Hungarian adjectives normally come before the noun, just like in English.

So:

• nagy nemzet = big/great nation
• szép ház = beautiful house
• régi könyv = old book

That part is pleasantly familiar for English speakers.

Not in this kind of phrase.

In egy nagy nemzet, the adjective nagy stays unchanged. Hungarian adjectives do not agree with the noun in gender, and Hungarian has no grammatical gender at all.

So:

• egy nagy nemzet = a big nation
• két nagy nemzet = two big nations

The adjective still stays nagy.

This is different from many European languages where adjectives may change for gender, number, or case.

Not exactly.

Nemzet means nation: a people, national community, or nation in the cultural/political sense.

It is different from:

• ország = country
• nép = people, folk, ethnic group depending on context

So:

• Magyarország egy ország. = Hungary is a country.
• A magyar nemzet... = the Hungarian nation...

In many contexts, English nation and country overlap, but Hungarian keeps these words more distinct.

Ez egy nagy nemzet is the neutral, natural word order.

Hungarian word order is flexible, but changes usually add emphasis, contrast, or a special tone.

For example:

• Ez egy nagy nemzet. = neutral statement
• Egy nagy nemzet ez. = more emphatic or literary, something like This is a great nation

So yes, word order can change, but the version you have is the most straightforward one for a learner to use.

A rough pronunciation is:

ez edj nodj nem-zet

More carefully:

• ez = like ez in beds, but shorter
• egy = roughly edj
• nagy = roughly nodj or nady, with a soft consonant at the end
• nemzet = NEM-zet

A few important pronunciation notes:

• gy is a special Hungarian sound, softer than English g
• sz in Hungarian sounds like English s
• z sounds like English z
• Stress in Hungarian is almost always on the first syllable of the word:
  • EZ
  • Egy
  • NAGY
  • NEMzet

It can mean both, depending on context.

• nagy ház = big house
• nagy nemzet can mean big nation or great nation

With abstract or political words like nemzet, English often prefers great rather than just physical big.

So the exact English choice depends on the context, even though the Hungarian word is still just nagy.

It is in the nominative form, which is the basic dictionary form.

There is no special ending here because the word is simply part of the predicate:

• nemzet = basic form

If you changed the role of the word in the sentence, it could take case endings, for example:

• nemzetet = accusative
• nemzetnek = dative

But in Ez egy nagy nemzet, the plain form nemzet is exactly what you need.

Normally, no. In a basic sentence like this, egy is expected.

So the standard form is:

• Ez egy nagy nemzet.

Without egy, it sounds unnatural in ordinary modern Hungarian.

The article helps mark nemzet as an indefinite predicate noun, much like English a in This is a great nation.