[#DuolingoForumGems originally posted on 2019-02-17 on the Duolingo Hungarian for English speakers forum by peter.kristof.hu ] 

The use of articles in Hungarian

Recently, there was a question about the use of English articles on the Hungarian discussion. I've written a reply, and I thought it might be interesting for many people who learn Hungarian, and I would apply it to English. So I wrote a brief explanation of the use of the Hungarian articles.

Articles are used before nouns, and they are a kind of determinants. There are three articles in English and in Hungarian too: The definite article, the indefinite article and the zero article (the absence of the article, i.e. a bare noun). Some languages use articles differently. For example, Latin, Russian, Chinese has no articles. Esperanto has only the definite article.

In the first part, I point out some differences between English and Hungarian usage, however, I do not describe rules, but the most common cases. The list cannot be complete, as there are many exceptions that can be considered idioms. In the second part, I try to describe the general use of articles and I would note these are general principles.

1) Special cases:

In Hungarian:

• The definite article is used after 'this, that, these, those' (ez, az, ezek, azok) demonstrative pronouns:
  Ez a film unalmas.
  This movie is boring.

• The definite article is used before the possessed nouns with possessive endings:
  Nyisd ki a könyved a 10. oldalon!
  Open your book on page 10!

• No article is used before the names of musical instruments and names of dances used in a general sense:
  Zongorázik. (verb)/Tud zongorán (noun) játszani.
  He plays the piano.
  Gyakran tangózom. (verb)
  I often dance the tango.

• The names of languages take articles:
  Az angol nyelv korai formája ragozott volt.
  English in its early form was an inflected language.

• Unlike English, before "doctor, teacher, cook, nurse, etc", father, mother, aunt, etc., the definite article is used when mentioned by the members of a family:
  Az orvos azt mondja, hogy túl sokat dohányzom.
  Doctor says I smoke too much.
  A szakács elment vásárolni.
  Cook has gone shopping.
  (Az) apa ma nem jön haza.
  Father won't come home today.

• The definite article is used before "breakfast, lunch,dinner, supper, tea":
  Készen van az ebéd./Kész az ebéd./Az ebéd készen van.
  Lunch is ready.

• In general, the zero article is used before names of professions:
  Ő (egy) tanár.
  He is a teacher.
  Tamás orvos akar lenni.
  Tom wants to become a doctor.

• The definite article is used before the structure of noun + number, room, page, chapter:
  Nyisd ki a könyved a 10. oldalon!
  Open your book on page 10!

• The definite article is omitted before days of the week, months, seasons, in a specific sense:
  2007 júliusa nagyon esős volt.
  The July of 2007 was very rainy.

• No article is used before the times of the day in a general sense:
  reggel, délelőtt
  in the morning
  délután
  in the afternoon
  este
  in the evening
  napközben
  during the day
  tegnapelőtt
  the day before yesterday
  holnapután
  the day after tomorrow
  annak idején
  at the time
  akkorra, amikor
  by the time
  But: at night, down, noon, sunrise, sunset are used without articles in English too.

• There is also no article:
  ugyanaz
  the same

• Usually articles are used in newspaper headlines

• Sometimes there is a difference in the use of proper names

2) General uses

In both languages, the definite article may be used before singular as well plural nouns whether countable or uncountable. The indefinite article is only used before singular countable nouns. In the two languages, the countable and uncountable nouns are not exactly the same (eg. information, advice).

• The definite article usually denotes that the following noun refers to a known, definite object or objects:
  A könyv, a könyvek, a piros toll, a víz, stb.
  A book, the books, the red pen, the water, etc.

• The indefinite article usually denotes that the following noun refers to a new, indefinite object:
  Egy könyv, egy piros toll, stb.
  A book, a red pen, etc.

• The zero article is used more frequently in Hungarian than in English. There are three most common types of bare nouns:
  a) A predicative noun phrase. It does not specify something but expresses an attribute of something:
  Péter jó tanuló.
  Péter is a good student.
  b) A case-marked bare noun as an adverbial:
  Péter hétfőn örömmel segített a feladatban.
  Péter was glad to help with the task on Monday.
  c) An argument of the verb (in this case an object), that is, a verb modifier (immediately before the verb) :
  Péter levelet ír.
  Péter is writing a letter.

• On the other hand, semantically, it can be distinguished individual, generic, definite and indefinite noun phrases.
                     
                                noun phrase
                                /                 \
                    individual             generic
                    /             \
            definite         indefinite

• Individual, definite reference of a noun phrase. The object is known for both the speaker and the listener. In the plural, it refers to a set of entities:
  Add ide a tollat!
  Give me the pen! [that pen]
  Add ide a tollakat!
  Give me the pens! [those pens]

• Individual, indefinite reference of a noun phrase. Then a new entity will be introduced into the discourse and the object is still unknown for the listener. In the plural, it also refers to a set of entities:
  Adj egy tollat!
  Give me a pen! [It doesn't matter which one]
  In plurals, not an indefinite article but another determinant, numeral, or pronoun is applied:
  Adj néhány/két/sok tollat!
  Give me some/two/many pens!

• The generic reference denote a whole class of objects thought of a single entity.
  The reference can be expressed in two ways in Hungarian:

  • A noun with a definite article, in singular:
    A tigris éjjel vadászik.
    The tiger hunts by night.

  • A noun with an indefinite article:
    Egy lepke élete rövid.
    A butterfly's life is short.

In English, a completely different structure is used: a bare noun in the plural for countable nouns and in the singular for uncountable nouns respectively, but it cannot be used in Hungarian:
A dinoszaurusz nagyméretű állat volt.
Dinosaurs were a large beast.
A kutya az ember jó barátja.
Dogs are good friends to men.
Hogy kezdődött az élet? [uncountable]
How did life begin?
Az arany ritka. [uncountable]
Gold is rare.

It is important to note that the above sentences are often ambiguous. They may be individual or generic interpretation, that can be determined by the context and the sentence meaning. Compare these:
Egy zebra csíkos.
A zebra is striped.
A zebra csíkos.
The zebra is striped.
A zebrák csíkosak.
Zebras are striped.

Egy nő kiszámíthatatlan.
A woman is unpredictable.
A nő kiszámíthatatlan.
The woman is unpredictable.
A nők kiszámíthatatlanok.
Women are unpredictable.

But the matter is not so simple. Linguists also distinguish between specific and non-specific nouns. Those who interested in linguistics they can be found this topic in detail here:
- Syntax of Hungarian vol 2, chapter 2.5.
- In Hungarian: Jelentéselmélet