Basic Adjectives in Hungarian

In Brief

Hungarian adjectives normally come before the noun and stay unchanged there: szép ház means “beautiful house,” while szép házak means “beautiful houses.” When an adjective describes a plural subject as the main statement of a sentence, however, it is usually plural too: A házak szépek. (“The houses are beautiful.”)

Overview

An adjective is a describing word such as “big,” “new,” “cold,” or “beautiful.” At A1, Hungarian adjectives let you describe people and objects, ask simple questions, react to prices, and express basic opinions: nagy kutya (“big dog”), új telefon (“new phone”), or Finom a leves. (“The soup is tasty.”)

For an English-speaking learner, adjective position initially feels familiar: Hungarian usually puts a descriptive adjective before its noun, just as English does. The major difference is that Hungarian has many endings, but an adjective directly before a noun normally does not copy the noun’s plural or case endings. A case ending is a suffix that shows a noun’s role or meaning, such as being the object or being inside something. In szép házban (“in a beautiful house”), the ending -ban belongs to ház, not to szép.

There is one essential contrast. An adjective inside a noun phrase—a group built around a noun—stays in its basic form. A predicative adjective—an adjective that forms the main description in a sentence—marks a plural subject: A ház szép. (“The house is beautiful.”), but A házak szépek. (“The houses are beautiful.”)

How It Works

Adjective before noun: one unchanged form

The usual pattern is:

article or other determiner + adjective + noun + noun ending

A determiner is a word such as “the,” “a,” “this,” or “my” that helps identify the noun. Hungarian articles come before the adjective.

Meaning	Hungarian pattern
a beautiful house	egy szép ház
the beautiful house	a szép ház
the new car	az új autó
this big dog	ez a nagy kutya

The adjective does not change when the noun becomes plural:

Singular	Plural	What changed?
szép ház — beautiful house	szép házak — beautiful houses	only ház
nagy kutya — big dog	nagy kutyák — big dogs	only kutya
új könyv — new book	új könyvek — new books	only könyv
jó étterem — good restaurant	jó éttermek — good restaurants	only étterem

This unchanged form is called attributive use: the adjective is attached directly to a noun as its description. Hungarian has no grammatical gender comparable to “masculine” and “feminine,” so there is no gender agreement to learn either.

The noun carries case endings

Hungarian expresses many relationships with suffixes. In a simple adjective–noun phrase, those suffixes go on the noun at the end of the phrase. The adjective remains bare.

English	Hungarian	Ending on the noun
I see a big dog.	Nagy kutyát látok.	-t marks the object
in the old house	a régi házban	-ban means “in”
with cold water	hideg vízzel	-vel means “with”
from the new school	az új iskolából	-ból means “from inside”
in beautiful houses	szép házakban	plural and location endings

The object is the person or thing directly affected by an action; in “I see the dog,” “the dog” is the object. You do not need to master all the endings to use the adjective rule: simply keep the adjective unchanged and put the required endings on the noun.

English has little visible case marking, so it can be tempting to attach an ending to every descriptive word once Hungarian endings become familiar. Do not do that in an ordinary phrase: nagy kutyát, not nagyot kutyát.

More than one adjective

Several adjectives may describe the same noun. They all remain unchanged:

• egy nagy, régi ház — a big, old house
• egy kedves fiatal tanár — a kind young teacher
• finom magyar étel — delicious Hungarian food

The adjective closest to the noun often forms the tightest unit with it, while earlier adjectives add further description. At beginner level, natural adjective order is best learned from complete phrases rather than from a rigid list of rules.

Adjectives as the main description

Compare these two jobs:

Job	Hungarian	English
before a noun	szép ház	beautiful house
main description	A ház szép.	The house is beautiful.

In the second sentence, A ház is the subject—the person or thing the sentence is about—and szép is the predicate, the information stated about that subject. In present-tense third-person sentences, Hungarian normally uses no visible word for “is” or “are” before a noun or adjective predicate:

• A szoba kicsi. — The room is small.
• A kávé forró. — The coffee is hot.
• Péter fáradt. — Péter is tired.

Do not insert van into these neutral descriptions. A szoba van kicsi is not the ordinary Hungarian equivalent of “The room is small.”

Singular and plural predicates

With a singular subject, use the basic adjective. With a plural subject, the predicative adjective normally takes a plural ending.

Subject	Predicate	Complete sentence
a ház — the house	szép	A ház szép.
a házak — the houses	szépek	A házak szépek.
a kutya — the dog	nagy	A kutya nagy.
a kutyák — the dogs	nagyok	A kutyák nagyok.
az autó — the car	gyors	Az autó gyors.
az autók — the cars	gyorsak	Az autók gyorsak.

The plural forms use variants of -k, with linking vowels determined by Hungarian sound patterns: szép → szépek, nagy → nagyok, gyors → gyorsak. Some common words show additional stem or vowel behavior, such as kicsi → kicsik and hosszú → hosszúak. Learn the plural predicate with the word at first; a broader treatment of adjective forms comes later.

“To be” appears with I, you, we, and you all

Hungarian omits the present-tense copula—the linking verb corresponding to “be”—only in third-person noun and adjective statements. With other persons, a form of lenni (“to be”) appears:

Hungarian	English
Én fáradt vagyok.	I am tired.
Te fáradt vagy.	You are tired.
Ő fáradt.	He/She is tired.
Mi fáradtak vagyunk.	We are tired.
Ti fáradtak vagytok.	You are tired.
Ők fáradtak.	They are tired.

The pronouns may be omitted when context makes the person clear: Fáradt vagyok. (“I am tired.”) The plural adjective is still used with mi, ti, and ők.

Useful basic adjectives

Hungarian	English	Hungarian	English
jó	good	rossz	bad
nagy	big	kicsi	small
szép	beautiful, nice	csúnya	ugly
új	new	régi	old, not new
fiatal	young	öreg	old, aged
drága	expensive	olcsó	cheap
meleg	warm	hideg	cold
gyors	fast	lassú	slow
könnyű	easy; light	nehéz	difficult; heavy
finom	tasty; fine/delicate	fáradt	tired

Notice that English “old” has useful Hungarian distinctions. Régi normally describes something that is not new or is from long ago: régi könyv (“old book”). Öreg describes an aged living being, though its tone depends on context: öreg fa (“old tree”). For a person, idős (“elderly”) is often more respectful than öreg.

Examples in Context

Hungarian	English	Note
Ez egy szép ház.	This is a beautiful house.	Adjective before a singular noun
Azok szép házak.	Those are beautiful houses.	The adjective stays unchanged before a plural noun
Nagy kutyát látok.	I see a big dog.	The object ending is on kutya
Egy régi házban lakunk.	We live in an old house.	The location ending is on ház
Az új könyvek érdekesek.	The new books are interesting.	Attributive új is bare; predicate érdekesek is plural
A ház szép.	The house is beautiful.	Singular predicate
A házak szépek.	The houses are beautiful.	Plural predicate
A kutyák nagyok, de barátságosak.	The dogs are big but friendly.	Both predicates are plural
Drága ez a telefon?	Is this phone expensive?	Predicate placed first for a natural question
Nem, ez a telefon olcsó.	No, this phone is cheap.	nem negates the description
A leves finom és meleg.	The soup is tasty and warm.	Two singular predicates
Fáradt vagyok.	I am tired.	First person requires vagyok
A gyerekek kicsik.	The children are small.	Common plural form kicsik
Jó napot!	Good day!	Fixed polite greeting; jó modifies napot

Hungarian word order can move the predicate to the front, especially in questions or when that description is prominent: Drága a kávé? literally puts “expensive” first but simply means “Is the coffee expensive?” The adjective’s grammatical role matters more than its physical position. It is predicative because it states what the coffee is like, not because it comes after the noun.

Common Mistakes

Making an adjective plural before a plural noun

• Wrong: szépek házak
• Right: szép házak
• Why: An adjective directly modifying a noun stays in its base form. Only the noun takes the plural ending.

Leaving a plural predicate singular

• Wrong: A házak szép.
• Right: A házak szépek.
• Why: A predicative adjective normally agrees in number with a plural subject.

Adding case endings to both words

• Wrong: nagyban házban for “in a big house”
• Right: nagy házban
• Why: In an ordinary adjective–noun phrase, the case suffix goes on the noun at the end of the phrase.

Using van in a third-person present description

• Wrong: A kávé van meleg.
• Right: A kávé meleg.
• Why: Hungarian omits “is/are” in present-tense third-person sentences whose predicate is an adjective or noun. Van can occur for existence, location, or emphasis, but not as a direct copy of English “is” here.

Omitting “to be” with the first or second person

• Wrong: Én fáradt.
• Right: Én fáradt vagyok. or simply Fáradt vagyok.
• Why: The zero-copula rule does not apply to “I,” “you,” “we,” or plural “you.” Use vagyok, vagy, vagyunk, or vagytok as appropriate.

Confusing an adjective with its adverb

• Wrong: Jó beszél magyarul.
• Right: Jól beszél magyarul. — “He/She speaks Hungarian well.”
• Why: Jó describes a noun: jó tanár (“good teacher”). Jól is an adverb, a word describing how an action happens: “well.”

Usage Notes

Articles and descriptions

Hungarian a/az means “the,” while egy can mean “a/an” or “one.” Their form does not depend on the adjective: a nagy ház, az új ház, egy szép nap. The choice between a and az depends on the next sound, so an adjective can affect which form appears: a ház but az új ház.

Questions and negation

Milyen? means “What kind of?” or “What is … like?” It is a useful prompt for adjective practice:

• Milyen a szálloda? — What is the hotel like?
• A szálloda modern és kényelmes. — The hotel is modern and comfortable.

Put nem before the adjective to negate a simple description: A szoba nem nagy. (“The room is not big.”) In first-person descriptions, the adjective and nem come before the verb: Nem vagyok fáradt. (“I am not tired.”)

Meanings depend on context

Basic adjectives rarely match one English word in every context. Szép can be “beautiful,” “pretty,” or “nice”; jó can be “good,” “suitable,” or “all right”; könnyű can mean “light in weight” or “easy.” Learn phrases and sentences rather than one-word equations.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following points at A1, but they explain forms you will encounter later.

An adjective can stand in for a noun

Hungarian can use an adjective substantivally—that is, as if it were a noun referring to a person or thing. It then takes the endings needed for its own role:

• A pirosat kérem. — I would like the red one.
• A fiatalok itt vannak. — The young people are here.
• Beszéltem az újjal. — I spoke with the new one.

This does not contradict the beginner rule. In these examples there is no following noun to carry the ending, so the adjective itself functions as the noun.

Comparatives and superlatives

Later you will meet -bb for comparison and leg- for the superlative: nagy (“big”), nagyobb (“bigger”), legnagyobb (“biggest”). Some very common words are irregular, especially jó → jobb → legjobb. These forms can still be attributive or predicative: nagyobb ház (“a bigger house”), A ház nagyobb. (“The house is bigger.”)

Participles can behave like adjectives

A participle is a verb-based form used partly like an adjective. Forms such as érdekes (“interesting”), fáradt (“tired”), and more visibly verb-related expressions can occupy the same adjective positions. At higher levels, their complements and meanings require more attention, but the basic contrast remains useful: before a noun they are normally bare; as plural predicates they normally take plural marking.

The linking verb returns in other tenses

The missing “is/are” pattern applies specifically to present-tense third-person noun and adjective predicates. In the past, the verb is visible:

• A ház régi volt. — The house was old.
• A házak régiek voltak. — The houses were old.

This is why it is better to think “Hungarian omits the present third-person copula here” rather than “Hungarian has no verb ‘to be.’”

Practice Tips

1. Build contrast pairs. For each new adjective, say one phrase and one sentence: nagy kutya / A kutya nagy; then make both plural: nagy kutyák / A kutyák nagyok. This trains the crucial difference directly.
2. Describe your surroundings. Choose five objects and make short statements: Az asztal nagy. A könyv új. A szék kényelmes. Then group two or more objects so you must use plural predicates.
3. Learn opposites and complete forms. Pair jó–rossz, nagy–kicsi, and drága–olcsó. Record the predicative plural too—jók, rosszak, nagyok, kicsik—instead of trying to guess every linking vowel later.

Related Concepts

• Next step: Adjective Usage — develops the contrast between unchanged attributive adjectives and plural predicative forms, including more sentence patterns.
• Next step: Colors and Basic Description — applies the same adjective rules to colors and everyday descriptions.