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Questions & Answers about Ez a ház nagy.
Why is there an a in Ez a ház nagy when ez already means “this”?
In Hungarian, you still need to use the definite article a (or az before a vowel) after ez (this) or az (that) when referring to a specific noun (here, ház = house). So ez a ház means this (specific) house.
How do I know when to include the verb van (“is” in English) in a sentence like this?
In the present tense, third-person singular (“he”, “she”, “it”), Hungarian often drops van when describing the quality or state of a noun with an adjective.
• Ez a ház nagy. (literally “This the house big.”) -> “This house is big.”
• If you use other tenses or want to emphasize a location or existence, you do use van, e.g., Ez a ház a téren van (“This house is on the square”).
Is the word order flexible in Hungarian if I want to say something like “Big is this house”?
While Hungarian has relatively flexible word order, Ez a ház nagy is the natural, neutral way to say “This house is big.” Switching the word order to Nagy ez a ház emphasizes the adjective nagy more strongly, something like “It’s big, this house.”
How would I say “This is a big house” instead of “This house is big”?
To say “This is a big house,” you would usually say Ez egy nagy ház. Notice the indefinite article egy (“a / one”) to emphasize that it is any big house, not necessarily a specific one. Meanwhile, Ez a ház nagy focuses on the fact that this particular house happens to be big.