Better Hungarian

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If you don’t know already, articles are used to specify whether a noun is specific or general (you could also think of it as definite vs indefinite). In English, we have “the” (definite) and “a/an” (indefinite). It’s just as simple in Hungarian. One of the things that make it easy (in my opinion) is that Hungarian has no gendered nouns, so you don’t have to memorize a bunch of different versions of the articles that correspond to gender.

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Definite Articles: a/az (the)

‘A‘ is used before any word beginning with a consonant.

a világ	a fa	a madár	a macska	a szekrény	a kocsi
the world	the tree	the bird	the cat	the wardrobe	the car

‘Az‘ is used before any word beginning with a vowel.

az ágy	az épület	az orvos	az alma	az apa	az egyetem
the bed	the building	the doctor	the apple	the father	the university

That’s it! It doesn’t change for gender like in romance languages.

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Indefinite Article: egy (a/an)

‘Egy‘ is used before any word regardless of vowel/consonant.

egy pillanat	egy vidra	egy iskola	egy elefánt	egy nő	egy kert
a moment	an otter	a school	an elephant	a woman	a garden

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When to Use Articles

Besides the general usage, there are some other specific situations where the article is also required (where it might not be in English)

1. For possessed nouns or possessive pronouns
   • a házam (my house)
   • az én macskám¹ (my cat)
   • a tied (yours)

¹Including the pronoun before the possessed noun is usually just for emphasis, and is not necessary.

1. Nouns with demonstrative pronouns
   • az a férfi (that man)
   • ez a lány (this girl)
     
2. Nouns of an indefinite/unspecific amount
   • Szeretem a macskákat (I like cats)

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When NOT to Use Articles

In Hungarian, there are situations where the article is ommitted (whereas they might still be required in English)

1. Predicate nouns(a noun or noun phrase that describes or elaborates on the subject of the sentence)
   • Én tanár vagyok, ellenben Gábor diák (I am a teacher, whereas Gábor is a student)
     
2. ‘Van’ (to have) construction
   • Neki kedves gyereke van (Xe has a nice kid)
   • Boldog emlékeim vannak (I have happy memories)
   • Atillának szép barátnője van (Atilla has a pretty girlfriend)
     
3. Indefinite nouns that are positioned before the verb¹
   • Madarakat láttam a kertben (I saw birds in the garden)
   • Holnap új ruhákat vásárlok (I will buy new clothes tomorrow)

¹This depends on word order, which you can learn about here and here.