Breakdown of A macska a házból nézi a kertet.
Questions & Answers about A macska a házból nézi a kertet.
A is the definite article “the” in Hungarian. In this sentence, each noun phrase gets its own article:
- A macska – the cat
- a házból – from the (the) house → English usually says just from the house
- a kertet – the garden (as an object: the garden is what is being watched)
Hungarian normally repeats the article before each separate noun phrase, unlike English, which can say “the cat watches the garden from the house” with just one the before house and garden understood.
Both are common, but they mean different things:
- házban = in the house (location inside)
- házból = from (out of) the house (movement or point of origin from inside)
In A macska a házból nézi a kertet, házból focuses on the source/place the cat is (or comes) from while watching – “from the house” rather than just “in the house”. In many contexts, English will translate it simply as “from the house” or “from inside the house”.
-ból / -ből is a case ending meaning “from inside” something. It’s called the elative case.
- Use -ból after back vowels (a, á, o, ó, u, ú).
- Use -ből after front vowels (e, é, i, í, ö, ő, ü, ű).
Ház has the back vowel á, so you get ház + ból → házból = from (inside) the house.
If the word had only front vowels, for example kert, it would be kertből (“from the garden”).
The -t ending is the accusative marker: it shows that kert is the direct object of the verb — the thing being watched.
- kert = garden (dictionary form)
- kertet = (the) garden as object (watch the garden)
So nézi a kertet literally means “(he/she/it) watches the garden”, with kertet clearly marked as what is being watched.
Hungarian verbs have two main conjugations:
- indefinite conjugation (used with no object or an indefinite/unspecified object)
- definite conjugation (used with a definite object: the garden, that book, him, her, etc.)
Here, the object is a kertet – the garden, clearly definite.
So we need the definite form:
- (ő) néz = he/she/it looks/watches (indefinite, no specific object mentioned)
- (ő) nézi a kertet = he/she/it watches the garden (definite object)
Because the cat is watching a specific garden (a kertet), we must say nézi, not néz, in this sentence as it stands.
Yes, A macska a házból néz a kertre is grammatical, but slightly different:
- nézi a kertet: the garden is a direct object; this feels like “the cat is watching the garden” more as a concrete object.
- néz a kertre: kertre uses the -re (“onto, to”) suffix. This structure is more like “the cat looks toward the garden” or “looks at the garden” with a bit more emphasis on direction of looking.
In many everyday contexts both can be translated as “looks at the garden,” but:
- nézi a kertet → more object-focused, “is watching the garden.”
- néz a kertre → more about the gaze being directed toward the garden.
Hungarian word order is flexible, but information structure (what is emphasized) changes with the order.
A macska a házból nézi a kertet.
Neutral reading: As for the cat, from the house it watches the garden. The location (a házból) is placed before the verb as part of what is being said about the cat.A macska nézi a kertet a házból.
This is also possible, but now a házból comes later, and often sounds more like an afterthought or an extra bit of information: The cat watches the garden, (and does so) from the house.
Both can be correct; the first is more natural if the place (from the house) is important to the main message.
No, that sounds ungrammatical in normal Hungarian.
In standard Hungarian:
- Countable nouns in sentences usually need an article or some determiner (a number, a demonstrative like ez, a possessive, etc.).
- So you would say A macska a házból nézi a kertet or, if you want it indefinite: Egy macska a házból nézi a kertet (a cat…).
You can drop the article mainly in:
- headlines,
- labels, lists,
- some fixed expressions.
But in a normal sentence like this, you should keep the articles.
They are different, similar to “look/watch” vs “see” in English:
- néz = look at, watch (active, intentional action)
- A macska nézi a kertet. – The cat is watching the garden.
- lát = see (perception that happens, not necessarily intentional)
- A macska látja a kertet. – The cat sees the garden.
Your sentence uses nézi, which implies the cat is actively watching/looking at the garden, not just passively seeing it.
It depends on context:
- A macska a házból nézi a kertet.
Most naturally: one specific, known cat – The cat watches the garden from the house.
For talking about cats in general, Hungarian usually prefers a different structure, for example:
- A macska szeret a házból a kertbe nézni. – The cat (as a species) likes to watch from the house into the garden. (still a bit context‑dependent)
- Or use plural: A macskák… = Cats…
So in everyday use, A macska here will normally be understood as a particular cat.
Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:
- a – used before words starting with a consonant
- az – used before words starting with a vowel (a, e, i, o, ö, u, ü, etc.)
Since ház starts with h (a consonant), you use a házból.
Example contrast:
- a ház – the house
- az ablak – the window
- az erdő – the forest
Basic points:
- á is a long version of a, held about twice as long and pronounced further back in the mouth.
- ház sounds roughly like haaz in English (but with a single clear vowel, not aa-uh).
- In kertet, the -et is fully pronounced:
- ker as in “care” (but shorter, more closed e),
- tet with a clear t at the end, not swallowed.
So approximately:
- A macska → A mock-sha (with a like in “cup”, cs like “ch” in “church”).
- a házból → o haaz-bohl (long á, clear b and l).
- a kertet → o ker-tet (both es short and front).
The exact sounds differ from English, but the key is: accent marks (á, é, í, ó, ú, ő, ű) mark long vowels, which must be clearly lengthened.