"Mi az?"
Translation:What is it?
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1398
They very probably have the same root. You'll find some more similar words between Finnish and Hungarian. (kéz and käsi, for instance)
"What that?" would definitely be understood in English; for one "real world" example sometimes certain characters in fiction will normally drop verbs that way (Susan Strong from Adventure Time comes to mind). But in typical English it would sound awkward.
I find it very interesting Hungarian drops the verb in this way, because it really is superfluous if you think about it!
1398
"That" is always az, independently of the following words. "Mi az?" is "What is that?"
The (only) word that changes its shape depending on whether the following word starts with a consonant or a vowel is a (and az, respectively), and means "the". Might get a bit confusing if they're put together:
- az a ház - that house (lit. "that the house")
- az az autó - that car (lit. "that the car")
- Az az az autó - That is that car. (lit. "That, that the car.")
1398
Dulingo has a problem with making automatic contractions, especially between nouns and verbs. Usually you're fine with "I'm", "you've", or "can't", but once you go outside of the realm of personal pronouns or negations, it often won't accept it. (Also usually, a "noun-is" or "noun-has" contraction, like in "The girl's got a dog", looks like a possessive structure. More trouble for a computer to decide!)
"mit" = "mi" + "t" where "t" denotes the accusative. So it asks about a direct object instead of a subject.
"What is it" - "Mi ez"
"What do we do" - "Mit csinálunk"
If you know german, then consider the difference between "wer" or "wen" (though, i know that the german "wer" rather means "who" and not "what")