Chapter II: The Article

The _Definite Article_ is =a= or =az=.

=a= is used before words beginning with a consonant.
=az= is used before words beginning with a vowel.

Whenever any definite object is referred to the definite article is used.

a fiú, the boy; az alma, the apple.

The definite article is used in many cases where it would not be used in English; for example, even after a demonstrative adjective, or where a pronoun precedes the noun.

ez =az= alma; =az= én fiam.
(this apple;) ( my son.)

jobban szeretem =a= selymet mint =a= vásznat.
(better do I like silk than linen.)

In such cases the article must not be translated into English.

_N.B._—The definite article az must not be confused with
the demonstrative adjective az, that. The article, when
accompanying the demonstrative adjective, follows it:
_e.g._ az az ember, that man; az a madár, that bird.

The names of persons, towns, countries, months, and days do not take the article.

Károly, Charles
Magyarország, Hungary
Európa, Europe
Berlin, Berlin
január,[2] January
hétfő,[2] Monday

The names of mountains, rivers, and lakes take the article.

a Duna, the Danube
a Balaton, Lake Balaton
a Kárpátok, the Carpathians
a Gellérthegy, Gellért hill

magyarországi, Hungarian
angol, English
berlini, belonging to Berlin
német, German

Similarly,

egy angol, an Englishman
egy német, a German

_The Indefinite Article_ is =egy=, which is also the numeral, one.

The indefinite article is much less frequently used in Hungarian than in English. It is not necessary to use egy before a noun if spoken of in general terms only.

embert láttam, I saw (or have seen) a man.
almát ettem, I have eaten an apple.

=egy= _must never be used before an adjective or noun used as a predicate._ Thus—

Szent István király volt, St. Stephen was a king.
A sas madár, the eagle (is) a bird.
József jó fiú, Joseph (is) a good boy.

=egy= _should be used in cases where its meaning is that of “a certain.”_

volt egyszer egy ember aki, stb., there was once a man who, &c.

=egy= is used when stress is laid on the singleness of the object.

csak egy embert láttam, I saw only one man.
egy almát ettem, I have eaten one apple.

_The article is not inflected for number, gender, or case._

az ember, az emberek, az embernek, az embereknek.
(the man) (the men) (to the man) (to the men).

EXERCISE I.

A piros virág. Az atya ir. A szép asszony. Ez a fiú. Ez a nagy ház. A jó emberek. Kutyát láttam. Csak egy kutyát láttam. Az az alma.

The swift horse. That brave man. I have eaten only one plum. I saw a beautiful garden. The mother is gentle. Roses are beautiful flowers.

virág, flower
atya, father
ir, writes
szép, beautiful
nagy, great
ház, house
gyors, swift
bátor, brave
csak, only
kutya, dog
láttam, I saw (or have seen)
anya, mother
rózsa, rose
magas, high
szelid, gentle
szilva, plum

FOOTNOTES:

[2] The names of months and days all begin with small letters. So do the names of towns and countries when used as adjectives.