A diák az orvoshoz megy.

the student

Breakdown of A diák az orvoshoz megy.

• menni: to go
• orvos: the doctor
• -hoz: for

Questions & Answers about A diák az orvoshoz megy.

What does the word A mean in this sentence?

A is the definite article, equivalent to English the.
So A diák means the student.
Hungarian uses the definite article in very similar ways to English when you talk about a specific, known person or thing.

Why is it A diák but az orvoshoz? Why do we sometimes use a and sometimes az?

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

• a before a word starting with a consonant: a diák (the student), a tanár (the teacher)
• az before a word starting with a vowel: az orvos (the doctor), az alma (the apple)

So you say A diák az orvoshoz megy because diák starts with d (a consonant) and orvoshoz starts with o (a vowel), which triggers az.

What exactly does megy mean, and what is its basic dictionary form?

Megy is the 3rd person singular present tense form of the verb menni (to go).
So:

• megy = he/she/it goes, he/she/it is going
• megyek = I go / I am going
• mész = you go / you are going (singular, informal)

In this sentence, megy simply expresses the action of going, and context decides whether we translate it as goes or is going.

Why is there no separate word for is in this Hungarian sentence (like in is going)?

Hungarian does not use the verb to be to form a present continuous tense the way English does.
The simple present form megy already covers both English goes and is going.
If you want to stress that it is happening right now, you usually add a time word, e.g. A diák most az orvoshoz megy (The student is going to the doctor now).

What does the ending -hoz on orvoshoz mean?

The ending -hoz is a case suffix meaning to, towards, or to the place/person of.
So orvos = doctor, orvoshoz = to the doctor.
It is called the allative case, and it often expresses going to a person (e.g. fogorvoshoz megyek – I go to the dentist) or to a place considered as someone’s place.

Why is it -hoz and not -hez or -höz? How do these variants work?

Hungarian has three forms of this suffix because of vowel harmony:

• -hoz after words with mostly back vowels: orvoshoz, tanárhoz
• -hez after words with front, unrounded vowels: kézhez (to the hand), szemhez (to the eye)
• -höz after words with front, rounded vowels: nőhöz (to the woman), körhöz (to the circle/group)

Since orvos has back vowels (o), it takes -hoz → orvoshoz.

When should I use -hoz/-hez/-höz instead of endings like -ba/-be or -ra/-re?

Very roughly:

• -hoz/-hez/-höz = to someone’s place / toward someone or something as a destination:
  orvoshoz megyek – I’m going to the doctor
• -ba/-be = into something, entering an inside space:
  kórházba megyek – I’m going into the hospital
• -ra/-re = onto a surface or to certain public places/events:
  szigetre megyek – I’m going to an island; koncertre megyek – I’m going to a concert

So orvoshoz megy is natural because you go to the doctor (as a person / their practice).

Is this word order fixed? Could I move the parts around?

Hungarian word order is quite flexible, but it is not random: it is used to show topic and emphasis (focus).
In A diák az orvoshoz megy, the neutral reading is something like:

• A diák – topic (what we’re talking about)
• az orvoshoz – focused information (where he is going)
• megy – verb

You can move elements, but the meaning of what is emphasized changes.

Could I also say A diák megy az orvoshoz? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, A diák megy az orvoshoz is grammatically correct.
The emphasis shifts:

• A diák az orvoshoz megy – roughly: It’s to the doctor that the student is going (as opposed to somewhere else).
• A diák megy az orvoshoz – roughly: It’s the student who is going to the doctor (as opposed to someone else).

In everyday speech, both can often just mean The student is going to the doctor, but the subtle focus difference matters in context.

If the student is female, does the sentence change?

No, the sentence stays exactly the same.
Hungarian does not mark grammatical gender on nouns, adjectives, or verbs.
So whether the student is male or female, you still say A diák az orvoshoz megy.

How do I make this sentence plural, like The students are going to the doctor?

You pluralize the noun and conjugate the verb in the plural:

• A diák az orvoshoz megy. – The student goes / is going to the doctor.
• A diákok az orvoshoz mennek. – The students go / are going to the doctor.

Diákok is the plural of diák, and mennek is the 3rd person plural form of menni.

How would I say A student is going to the doctor (with an indefinite article)?

Use the indefinite article egy:

• Egy diák az orvoshoz megy.

This means A student is going to the doctor or One student is going to the doctor (depending on context).
A diák = the student (specific, known), Egy diák = a student (unspecified).

How do I ask Is the student going to the doctor? in Hungarian?

For a simple yes–no question, you can keep the same word order and use a rising intonation:

• A diák az orvoshoz megy? – Is the student going to the doctor?

You can also add the question particle -e to the verb:

• A diák az orvoshoz megy-e?

In everyday speech, the first version (with just intonation) is very common.