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Learn Hardcore Hungarian: A szobánk tiszta. - Our room is clean.

Hardcore Hungarian
/Lesson 12
/A szobánk tiszta.

A szobánk tiszta.

Word

A szobánk tiszta.

Meaning

Our room is clean.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Hungarian

Lesson

Breakdown of A szobánk tiszta.

Questions & Answers about A szobánk tiszta.

What does the whole sentence “A szobánk tiszta.” mean?

It means “Our room is clean.”

A = the
szobánk = our room
tiszta = clean

The verb “is” (to be) is not written in Hungarian here, but it is understood from the structure.

Where is the word “is”? Why is there no verb in the sentence?

Hungarian often leaves out the verb “to be” (lenni) in the present tense, in the 3rd person (he/she/it) and with nouns/adjectives.

So instead of saying something like:

“A szobánk *van tiszta.”* (which is wrong)

Hungarian simply says:

“A szobánk tiszta.” = “Our room is clean.”

The “is” is understood from the word order and the grammar.
You must not put van (is) here in the present tense. You would only use van in other situations (e.g. with locations: A szobánk az emeleten van. – “Our room is on the floor above.”).

What does “A” mean, and why is it used before szobánk?

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“A” is the definite article in Hungarian, like “the” in English.

A szoba = the room
A szobánk = our room (literally: the our-room)

In English, we usually don’t say “the our room”, but in Hungarian you normally use the article even with possessives:

A szobám = my room
A szobád = your (sg.) room
A szobánk = our room
A házunk = our house

So “A szobánk tiszta.” is literally “The our room clean,” but the natural English translation is “Our room is clean.”

Why is “szobánk” one word? Why not two words for “our room”?

In Hungarian, possession is usually shown by a suffix, not a separate word like “my / our / their.”

szoba = room
szobá
- nk → szobánk = our room

So “-nk” is the suffix that means “our” in this context, and “szobánk” is literally “room-our”.

Other examples with the same pattern:

könyv (book) → könyvünk (our book)
autó (car) → autónk (our car)
ház (house) → házunk (our house)

Hungarian usually attaches the possessive ending directly to the noun, forming one word.

What exactly does the “-nk” at the end of “szobánk” mean?

The ending “-nk” here is the 1st person plural possessive suffix = “our”.

For szoba (room), the possessive forms are:

szobám = my room
szobád = your (sg.) room
szobája = his/her room
szobánk = our room
szobátok = your (pl.) room
szobájuk = their room

Notice that:

The ending changes (‑m, ‑d, ‑ja/‑je, ‑nk, ‑tok/‑tek/‑tök, ‑juk/‑jük)
The vowel before the ending can change or lengthen (here szoba → szobá‑)

Why is it “szobá” + “nk” (with á) and not just “szoba” + “nk”?

This is a typical Hungarian linking vowel phenomenon.

The base noun is szoba. When you add a possessive suffix, sometimes a vowel is inserted or lengthened to make pronunciation easier and to follow vowel harmony rules:

szoba → szobá
- m = szobám (my room)
szoba → szobá
- nk = szobánk (our room)

So the á works like a bridge between the stem and the suffix.
You don’t treat it as a separate morpheme yourself; just learn that szoba → szobám / szobád / szobánk, etc.

Can I add “mi” (“we”) and say “A mi szobánk tiszta”?

Yes, you can say:

A mi szobánk tiszta.

This is grammatically correct, and it often adds emphasis:

A szobánk tiszta. = Our room is clean. (neutral statement)
A mi szobánk tiszta. = Our room is clean. (implying: maybe others’ rooms are not, or emphasizing that it’s ours)

Hungarian is a “pro-drop” language: subject pronouns (like én, te, mi) are usually omitted, because the verb or the possessive ending already shows the person/number. You only add them for contrast or emphasis.

So the default, neutral version is exactly what you have:

A szobánk tiszta.

Could the word order be “Tiszta a szobánk” instead? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, you can also say:

Tiszta a szobánk.

Both “A szobánk tiszta” and “Tiszta a szobánk” can mean “Our room is clean.”

However, Hungarian word order is used to highlight or focus information:

A szobánk tiszta.
Topic first (A szobánk = what we’re talking about), then comment (tiszta = what we say about it).
Neutral: “As for our room – it is clean.”
Tiszta a szobánk.
The adjective comes first, often slightly emphasizing the quality:
“It’s clean, our room.” / “Our room is clean (at least)”.

In everyday speech, both are fine, and the difference is usually just a slight shift in emphasis or intonation.

Why does Hungarian use “A szobánk” with an article, when English simply says “Our room” without “the”?

English normally doesn’t say “the our room”, but Hungarian does:

A szobám = my room
A szobád = your room
A szobánk = our room

In Hungarian, a noun with a possessive suffix is already definite, and it usually takes the definite article a/az in front of it.

So:

A szobánk tiszta. = Our room is clean.
Leaving out the article (Szobánk tiszta) is grammatically possible but sounds more unusual or poetic / very marked in everyday modern Hungarian.

How do I say “our rooms are clean” in Hungarian? Does “tiszta” change?

For plural “rooms”, you also pluralize the possessed noun:

szobáink = our rooms
A szobáink tiszták. = Our rooms are clean.

Two changes:

szoba → szobáink (our rooms)
tiszta → tiszták (clean → clean-PL as a predicate)

Notes:

In attributive position (before a noun), adjectives usually don’t take plural:
- tiszta szobák = clean rooms (no -k on tiszta)
In predicate position (after “to be”), they usually agree in number:
- A szobák tiszták. = The rooms are clean.

Does “tiszta” only mean “clean”? Any other common uses I should know?

“Tiszta” most commonly means “clean” (not dirty):

tiszta ruha = clean clothes
A szoba tiszta. = The room is clean.

But it also has some other frequent meanings:

Pure / clear
- tiszta víz = clear/pure water
- tiszta levegő = clean air
Complete / total (colloquial, often with negative nouns)
- Tiszta káosz. = It’s complete chaos.
- Tiszta hülyeség. = It’s total nonsense.

In “A szobánk tiszta.”, the natural interpretation is “Our room is clean.”

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