A konténer tele van.

A is the definite article, so it means the.

• a konténer = the container
• Hungarian has two articles:
  • a / az = the
  • egy = a / an

Here, a is used because the sentence is talking about a specific container.

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

• a before a word beginning with a consonant
• az before a word beginning with a vowel

Since konténer begins with k, you use a:

• a konténer
• but az autó = the car

Yes. Konténer is a loanword and means container / dumpster / shipping container, depending on context.

Its pronunciation is Hungarian, though. Roughly:

• konténer ≈ KON-tay-ner

A few pronunciation notes:

• stress is on the first syllable: KONténer
• é is a long vowel, like ay in say, but pure and longer
• the final e is pronounced, not silent

Tele means full in this sentence.

So:

• A konténer tele van. = The container is full.

Very often, Hungarian expresses this idea with the fixed pattern:

• tele van = is full

You should learn tele van as a very common unit.

Because this is the normal Hungarian pattern.

In English, you say:

• The container is full.

In Hungarian, the natural expression is:

• A konténer tele van.

Literally, it looks like The container full is, but the real meaning is simply The container is full.

So even though it feels unusual from an English point of view, tele van is the standard way to say that something is full.

That is a very good question, because Hungarian often does omit van in the 3rd person present:

• A konténer nagy. = The container is big.
• not A konténer nagy van.

But tele van is one of the common expressions where van stays.

So:

• A konténer nagy. = The container is big.
• A konténer tele van. = The container is full.

In other words, tele does not behave exactly like a regular adjective here. Treat tele van as a set expression.

The sentence has a very normal, neutral Hungarian word order:

• A konténer = topic / what we are talking about
• tele van = what we are saying about it

So:

• A konténer tele van.
• literally: The container full is.

Hungarian word order is flexible, but changes usually add emphasis or a different focus.

For example, Tele van a konténer is possible in some contexts, but it sounds more marked, as if emphasizing full.

For a basic statement, A konténer tele van is the safest pattern.

You use tele van + a noun with -val / -vel.

Example:

• A konténer tele van homokkal. = The container is full of sand.
• A doboz tele van játékokkal. = The box is full of toys.

This is worth memorizing as a pattern:

• tele van valamivel = is full of something

So Hungarian uses a structure that is more like full with something than English full of something.

The natural negative is:

• A konténer nincs tele. = The container is not full.

Here, nincs is the negative form of van in the 3rd person singular.

So:

• van = is
• nincs = is not

With this expression, Hungarian normally says:

• tele van = is full
• nincs tele = is not full

Sometimes, yes. Tele and teli are closely related, and both can mean full.

However, in the pattern taught to beginners, tele van is extremely common and safe to use:

• A konténer tele van.

You may also hear teli in other contexts, but if you are unsure, tele van is the form to remember first.

They are related, but not the same.

• tele van = is full
  → describes a state
• megtelt = became full / got full / filled up
  → describes a change

Examples:

• A konténer tele van. = The container is full.
• A konténer megtelt. = The container became full / filled up.

So if you want to describe the condition now, use tele van.

Because it is the subject of the sentence, and Hungarian subjects are usually in the basic form with no special ending.

So:

• konténer = container
• a konténer = the container

No extra suffix is needed here because the sentence is simply saying something about the container.

In speech, Hungarian often makes a yes/no question mainly with intonation.

So you can say:

• A konténer tele van? = Is the container full?

You may also hear other word orders in real conversation, but for a learner, the easiest and safest way is to keep the same words and use question intonation.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

• A konténer tele van.
• roughly: aw KON-tay-ner TE-le vun

A few important points:

• Hungarian stress is on the first syllable of each word
• tele is TE-le
• van has a short a, not the English vowel of van in some accents

So the rhythm is:

• a KONténer TEle van

That steady first-syllable stress is very characteristic of Hungarian.