Word
Ez a víz túl hideg.
Meaning
This water is too cold.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
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Questions & Answers about Ez a víz túl hideg.
What does túl mean and how is it used in this sentence?
Túl is an adverb meaning “too” in the sense of “excessively.” In Hungarian it directly precedes the adjective it modifies, so túl hideg = “too cold.”
Why isn’t there a separate verb like “is” in “Ez a víz túl hideg”?
Hungarian omits the present‐tense copula (the equivalent of “to be”) when linking a subject to a predicate adjective or noun. The relationship is understood without an explicit verb.
Why do we have both a demonstrative ez (“this”) and the definite article a before víz?
When you use a demonstrative pronoun (ez, az) before a noun, Hungarian still requires the definite article (a/ az) in between. So ez a víz literally means “this the water,” but idiomatically “this water.”
What case is víz in, and why doesn’t it have any ending here?
Víz is in the nominative (dictionary) case, used for the sentence’s subject. It only takes endings when functioning as object (accusative vizet), in certain locations, etc.
Why doesn’t hideg receive any suffix as a predicate adjective?
Predicate adjectives in the present tense stay in their basic form. Unlike verbs or nouns taking case endings, adjectives after an implied “to be” remain uninflected.
How would you turn this into a negative sentence?
Insert nem before the word you’re negating (usually before the adverb or adjective):
Ez a víz nem túl hideg.
= “This water is not too cold.”
Can I replace túl with nagyon, and what’s the difference?
Yes – nagyon hideg means “very cold,” simply intensifying the coldness. Túl hideg implies it’s excessively cold, often with a problem or complaint.
Is the word order fixed here, and could you rearrange it?
The neutral word order is Subject – Predicate:
Ez a víz túl hideg.
You can move elements for emphasis (e.g., Túl hideg ez a víz! to stress “too cold”), but the basic meaning stays the same.
Where does the stress fall in “Ez a víz túl hideg”?
Hungarian has fixed stress on the first syllable of each content word:
[ÉZ a VÍZ TÚL HÍ-deg].
Function words like the article a are typically unstressed.