Mi az elvárás alapja?

Mi means what? and is the normal interrogative pronoun for asking about a thing, idea, reason, basis, etc.

So in Mi az elvárás alapja?, Mi is asking what is it? or more naturally in English, What is the basis of the expectation?

A learner might compare it with milyen or micsoda:

• mi = what
• milyen = what kind of
• micsoda = what sort of / what kind of (often more expressive)

Here, the question is about identity, not type, so mi is the natural choice.

In this sentence, az is the definite article, meaning the.

So:

• az elvárás = the expectation
• az elvárás alapja = the basis of the expectation

Hungarian often keeps the article in questions like this, just as English would say What is the basis... rather than simply What is basis...

Also, az is used instead of a because the next word, elvárás, begins with a vowel.

• a before consonants
• az before vowels

For example:

• a könyv = the book
• az alma = the apple

Elvárás means expectation. Depending on context, it can also be understood as requirement or what is expected.

It comes from the verb elvár, meaning to expect.

So the structure is roughly:

• elvár = to expect
• elvárás = expectation / expecting

This -ás / -és ending is a very common way in Hungarian to make a noun from a verb.

Examples:

• olvas = read

• olvasás = reading

• tanul = study
• tanulás = studying

So elvárás is a verbal noun.

Because alapja means its basis or the basis of it.

The base noun is:

• alap = basis, foundation

But Hungarian usually expresses this kind of of relationship with possession rather than with a separate word like English of.

So:

• az elvárás alapja literally = the expectation its basis
• natural English = the basis of the expectation

The ending -ja is a 3rd person singular possessive ending:

• alapja = his/her/its basis

Here, the possessor is az elvárás.

This is a very important Hungarian pattern.

In English, we say:

• the basis of the expectation

In Hungarian, the possessed thing gets the possessive ending:

• az elvárás alapja

Breakdown:

• elvárás = expectation
• alapja = its basis

So Hungarian often builds X of Y as Y X-possessed.

More examples:

• a ház teteje = the roof of the house
  literally: the house its-roof

• a könyv címe = the title of the book
  literally: the book its-title

This is one of the most common structures in Hungarian.

Because Hungarian has two common ways to mark the possessor, and here it uses the simpler one.

In az elvárás alapja, the possessor is elvárás, but it appears with no special suffix. The possessive relationship is mainly shown by the ending on alapja.

This is completely normal.

You can compare:

• az elvárás alapja = the basis of the expectation
• az elvárásnak az alapja = the basis of the expectation

The version with -nak / -nek on the possessor is more explicit or can be used for emphasis, contrast, or certain sentence structures.

So the sentence without -nak / -nek is the plain, natural version.

Hungarian often leaves out van (is) in the present tense when the sentence links two nouns or a noun and an adjective in the 3rd person.

So:

• Mi az elvárás alapja? literally looks like What the expectation basis?
• but it means What is the basis of the expectation?

This omission is normal in present-tense equational sentences.

Compare:

• Ez a könyv. = This is a book.
• A ház nagy. = The house is big.
• Mi a probléma? = What is the problem?

But in other tenses or persons, the verb appears:

• Mi volt az elvárás alapja? = What was the basis of the expectation?
• Én vagyok a tanár. = I am the teacher.

Yes, Hungarian word order is flexible, but the usual neutral question here is:

• Mi az elvárás alapja?

This puts the unknown element, Mi, first, which is very natural in questions.

You may also hear:

• Az elvárás alapja mi?

But that can sound more marked, more conversational, or as if the speaker is focusing on what exactly the basis is, perhaps after earlier discussion.

So for a learner, Mi az elvárás alapja? is the safest and most standard form.

A and az are just two forms of the same definite article: the.

The choice depends on the next sound:

• a before a consonant
• az before a vowel

So:

• a ház = the house
• az elvárás = the expectation

Since elvárás starts with e, a vowel, the correct form is az.

It can definitely be abstract.

Alap originally means base, foundation, or basis, but in real use it often means:

• basis
• grounds
• foundation
• underlying reason

So Mi az elvárás alapja? could mean:

• What is the basis of the expectation?
• What is this expectation based on?
• What grounds this expectation?

The exact English wording depends on context, but alapja works very naturally for both literal and abstract foundations.

Grammatically, alapja is literally its basis. But in English, we usually translate the whole phrase more naturally as the basis of the expectation.

So there are two ways to think about it:

• literal structure: the expectation its basis
• natural English meaning: the basis of the expectation

This is a good example of how Hungarian possession often replaces English of.

So yes, alapja contains the idea of its, but when translating, it is often better not to force that literally into English.