A kabátja vastag.

His/Her coat is thick.

Breakdown of A kabátja vastag.

• lenni: to be
• kabát: the coat
• vastag: thick
• -ja: his/hers

Questions & Answers about A kabátja vastag.

What does A mean here, and why is it A and not Az?

A is the definite article “the” in Hungarian.

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

• A before words starting with a consonant:
  
  • A kabátja vastag. – The coat is thick.
• Az before words starting with a vowel:
  
  • Az alma piros. – The apple is red.

Since kabátja starts with k (a consonant), you use A, not Az.

Why is kabátja one word? What does the -ja ending mean?

Kabátja is formed from:

• kabát – coat
• -ja – 3rd person singular possessive suffix, roughly “his/her/its”

So:

• kabát – coat
• kabátja – his/her coat

Hungarian normally shows possession with suffixes instead of separate words like “his/her”:

• kabátom – my coat
• kabátod – your coat (singular, informal)
• kabátja – his/her coat
• kabátunk – our coat
• kabátotok – your coat (plural)
• kabátjuk – their coat

Whose coat is it exactly? Does kabátja mean “his coat” or “her coat”?

Kabátja means “his/her coat”. Hungarian does not mark gender, so the form is the same for:

• his coat
• her coat
• (in some contexts) its coat

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

• Az ő kabátja vastag. – His/Her coat is thick.

But usually the context makes it clear, and you just say:

• A kabátja vastag.

Where is the word “is”? Why doesn’t Hungarian use a verb here?

In Hungarian, the verb “to be” (lenni) is usually left out in 3rd person singular and plural present tense when it just links a subject to a noun or adjective.

So:

• A kabátja vastag. literally: The coat-of-him/her thick.
  Meaning: His/Her coat is thick.

Some patterns:

• Péter orvos. – Péter is a doctor.
• A ház nagy. – The house is big.

But “to be” appears:

• in the past: A kabátja vastag volt. – His/Her coat was thick.
• in the future: A kabátja vastag lesz. – His/Her coat will be thick.
• in 1st and 2nd person: Én vagyok, te vagy, etc.

Can the word order be Vastag a kabátja instead? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, you can say Vastag a kabátja. The basic meaning is still His/Her coat is thick, but the focus/emphasis changes.

• A kabátja vastag. – neutral statement; you’re just describing the coat.
• Vastag a kabátja. – emphasizes “thick”:
  • e.g. in contrast: It may be ugly, but his coat *is thick.*

Hungarian word order is flexible; it’s often used to highlight what is new or important information. The focus normally comes just before the verb (or, when the copula is dropped, in initial position), so sentence order affects emphasis more than basic meaning.

Why is there no article before vastag? Shouldn’t it be something like “the thick”?

No article is needed because vastag is a predicative adjective here – it describes the subject.

Structure:

• A kabátja – the subject (his/her coat)
• vastag – the predicate adjective (is thick)

In Hungarian, you don’t use an article in front of an adjective used like this:

• A ház nagy. – The house is big.
• Az autó drága. – The car is expensive.

You would only use an article before an adjective when that adjective is part of a noun phrase:

• a vastag kabát – the thick coat (adjective + noun)

How would I say clearly “His coat is thick” vs “Her coat is thick”?

Without context, A kabátja vastag. can mean both.

To make gender explicit, add the appropriate pronoun:

• Az ő kabátja vastag. – His coat is thick. / Her coat is thick.
  (still gender-neutral in form)

Hungarian personal pronouns themselves are gender‑neutral, so even ő can mean both he and she. If you truly must disambiguate, you’d usually rely on context or say something like:

• A férfi kabátja vastag. – The man’s coat is thick.
• A nő kabátja vastag. – The woman’s coat is thick.

There is no purely grammatical masculine/feminine distinction.

How do I say “His coat is very thick”?

You add an adverb such as nagyon (very) before the adjective:

• A kabátja nagyon vastag. – His/Her coat is very thick.

Other modifiers:

• elég vastag – thick enough / fairly thick
• nem túl vastag – not too thick

How would I say “His coats are thick”?

You need:

1. Plural possessed noun
2. Plural adjective

So:

• A kabátjai vastagok.

Breakdown:

• kabát – coat
• kabátjai – his/her coats (plural possessed form)
• vastagok – thick (plural form to agree with kabátjai)

Compare:

• A kabátja vastag. – His/Her coat is thick.
• A kabátjai vastagok. – His/Her coats are thick.

What’s the difference between vastag and meleg?

Both can be used to talk about coats, but they focus on different qualities:

• vastag – thick (describes physical thickness; e.g. many layers, heavy material)
• meleg – warm (describes the feeling/temperature; how well it keeps you warm)

Examples:

• A kabátja vastag, de nem meleg.
  His/Her coat is thick, but not warm.
• Ez a kabát nem vastag, de meleg.
  This coat is not thick, but (it is) warm.

How do you pronounce kabátja?

Approximate pronunciation: [kɒˈbaːcɒ] in IPA.

Step by step:

• ka- – like “kuh” in “cup” (but shorter)
• bát – á is a long a sound (like in British “father”), stress on this syllable
• -ja – sounds close to “ya”; the j is a y sound

So it’s roughly: ka-BAAT-ya, with stress on bát.

Why does the sentence start with A kabátja? Can I drop the article and just say Kabátja vastag?

You normally keep the definite article A here, because you’re talking about a specific coat:

• A kabátja vastag. – His/Her coat is thick.

You can sometimes drop the article in some contexts (e.g. headlines, notes, certain stylistic or poetic uses), but in standard, neutral speech this sentence sounds more natural with the article.

Compare:

• Kabátja vastag. – can sound like a very short note/label, or a somewhat telegraphic style.
• A kabátja vastag. – fully natural neutral sentence.

How do I turn this into a yes/no question: “Is his coat thick?”

You keep exactly the same words and mainly change the intonation or the word order for emphasis.

Two common ways:

1. Just change intonation (rising at the end):

   • A kabátja vastag? – Is his/her coat thick?
     (neutral question)

2. Put the adjective at the front for strong emphasis:

   • Vastag a kabátja? – Is his/her coat thick?
     (emphasizing “thick”, maybe contrasting with something else)

Hungarian doesn’t need an auxiliary like “do” or “is” to form a yes/no question. Intonation and (optionally) word order do the job.

How do I say “His coat is not thick”?

You use nem (not) before the adjective:

• A kabátja nem vastag. – His/Her coat is not thick.

Structure:

• A kabátja – his/her coat
• nem – not
• vastag – thick

Other examples:

• A ház nem nagy. – The house is not big.
• Az autó nem drága. – The car is not expensive.