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A kertje mindig szép.

A kertje mindig szép.
His/her garden is always beautiful.
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Questions & Answers about A kertje mindig szép.

What does kertje mean exactly, and what is that -je ending?

Kertje is made of:

  • kert = garden
  • -je = possessive suffix: “his/her/its”

So kertje literally means “his/her/its garden”.

Hungarian normally marks possession with a suffix on the thing owned, not (only) with a separate word like his or her.
Compare:

  • kert – garden
  • kertje – his/her/its garden
Why is there an A at the beginning? Is it “the” or “his/her”?

A is just the definite article, equivalent to “the”.

  • A kertje literally: “the his/her garden”

In English this sounds wrong, but in Hungarian it is normal to put the definite article in front of a possessed noun:

  • a házam – my house
  • a kutyád – your dog
  • a kertje – his/her garden

In translation we usually say “his/her garden”, and we don’t translate the article a separately, but in Hungarian it is required.

How do we know if it means “his garden”, “her garden”, or “its garden”?

We don’t, from the grammar alone.

Hungarian has no grammatical gender, and the suffix -je simply means “belonging to one third-person owner”. It could be:

  • his garden
  • her garden
  • its garden

You find out which one from context (for example, if the conversation is about a man, a woman, an animal, etc.).

If you really want to make it explicit, you can add a pronoun:

  • Az ő kertje mindig szép. – His/Her garden is always beautiful. (with emphasis on his/her)
Why is there no word for “is” (like van) in this sentence?

In Hungarian, the verb lenni (to be) – van in the 3rd person – is omitted in the present tense, 3rd person, when the predicate is:

  • a noun,
  • an adjective, or
  • a number.

So instead of:

  • A kertje mindig szép van. ✗ (incorrect)

You must say:

  • A kertje mindig szép. ✓

Other examples:

  • A ház nagy. – The house is big.
  • Ő orvos. – He/She is a doctor.

But you do use van if:

  • there is an adverb: A kertje ott van. – His/Her garden is there.
  • or in past/future: A kertje mindig szép volt / lesz. – was / will be.
What is the basic structure of the sentence A kertje mindig szép?

The structure is:

  • A kertje – subject: his/her garden
  • mindig – adverb: always
  • szép – predicative adjective: beautiful

So the pattern is:

[Subject] + [adverb of frequency] + [adjective]

Literally: “The his/her garden always beautiful.” → His/Her garden is always beautiful.

Can I say “Az ő kertje mindig szép”? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say:

  • Az ő kertje mindig szép.

Meaning: The garden of that particular person is always beautiful.

Differences:

  • A kertje mindig szép. – neutral, normal; the possessor is understood from context.
  • Az ő kertje mindig szép. – adds emphasis or contrast to the owner, like:
    • Not our garden – *his/her garden is always beautiful.*

In English you might reflect this with stress:
HIS garden is always beautiful. / HER garden is always beautiful.

Can I change the word order? For example “Mindig szép a kertje”?

Yes, but word order in Hungarian affects emphasis and information structure, not basic grammar.

Some natural options:

  1. A kertje mindig szép.
    – Neutral topic: “His/Her garden (as for that), it is always beautiful.”

  2. Mindig szép a kertje.
    – Emphasizes mindig (“always”):
    It is always beautiful, his/her garden.
    (Often used when stressing that it’s always beautiful.)

Less natural or more poetic:

  • A kertje szép mindig. – possible as a stylistic, poetic choice.
  • Szép mindig a kertje. – also more marked/stylistic.

In everyday speech, A kertje mindig szép and Mindig szép a kertje are the two most normal versions.

How would I say “my garden”, “your garden”, “their garden”, etc.?

The pattern is:

  • kert (garden) + possessive suffix

Singular possessor:

  • kertem – my garden
  • kerted – your (sg) garden
  • kertje – his/her/its garden

Plural possessor:

  • kertünk – our garden
  • kertetek – your (pl) garden
  • kertjük – their garden

And with the article:

  • a kertem, a kerted, a kertje, a kertünk, a kertetek, a kertjük

So:

  • A kertjük mindig szép. – Their garden is always beautiful.
What if I want to say “his/her gardens are always beautiful” (plural gardens)?

Now we need to mark both:

  • possession, and
  • plural of the thing possessed.

For his/her gardens:

  • kertjei – his/her gardens
    • kert – garden
    • -je – his/her/its
    • -i – plural of the possessed thing

Sentence:

  • A kertjei mindig szépek.
    – His/Her gardens are always beautiful.

Note that szép also becomes plural:

  • szép → szépek when it’s a plural subject.
Is kertje one word or two? How is it built morphologically?

It is one word, but you can analyze it as:

  • kert (root) – garden
  • -je (suffix) – his/her/its

Hungarian is an agglutinative language: you add suffixes directly onto the stem.
You don’t write them separately:

  • kert je ✗
  • kertje ✓
How do I say “The woman’s garden is always beautiful” using this pattern?

You can say:

  • A nő kertje mindig szép.
    – The woman’s garden is always beautiful.

Here:

  • a nő – the woman
  • kertje – her garden (the -je refers back to nő)

You may also hear a more emphatic form:

  • A nőnek a kertje mindig szép.

This uses:

  • nőnek – “to the woman” (dative)
  • a kertje – her garden

This structure ([possessor]-nak/-nek + a + [possessed]) is often used for emphasis or clarity, but A nő kertje mindig szép is perfectly correct and common.

Why is it szép and not something like szépe or with another ending?

In this sentence, szép is a predicative adjective (it functions like “is beautiful”). In Hungarian:

  • Adjectives used as predicates do not take endings to agree with a singular subject.

So:

  • A kertje szép. – His/Her garden is beautiful.
  • A kertje mindig szép. – His/Her garden is always beautiful.

Only when the subject is plural does the adjective typically show plural:

  • A kertjei szépek. – His/Her gardens are beautiful.
How do I make the negative: “His/Her garden is never beautiful”?

Use soha (never) and nem (not):

  • A kertje soha nem szép.
    – His/Her garden is never beautiful.

Structure:

  • A kertje – his/her garden
  • soha – never
  • nem – not
  • szép – beautiful

Literally: “His/Her garden never not beautiful.” → His/Her garden is never beautiful.