Ma lesz a jótékonysági futás.

Lesz is the 3rd person singular future form of lenni, the verb to be.

In this sentence, it does not just mean a plain will be in the abstract. With event nouns like futás (run), Hungarian often uses van / lesz in the sense of:

• is
• will be
• will take place
• will be held

So Ma lesz a jótékonysági futás is structurally very close to Today will be the charity run, but in natural English we usually say The charity run will be today or The charity run is today.

Because today can still refer to a time that is later than now.

If the speaker is talking before the event happens, Hungarian can naturally use lesz:

• Ma lesz... = it will happen today / later today

So the idea is not right now, but at some point today, in the future from this moment.

If you are simply stating the date as a fact, Hungarian can also use the present:

• Ma van a jótékonysági futás.

That sounds more like The charity run is today.

So:

• Ma lesz... = slightly more future-looking
• Ma van... = more like a calendar fact

Not in the same way English does.

Hungarian often expresses future in two common ways:

1. Present tense + a future time word

   • Holnap indulunk. = We leave tomorrow.

2. Infinitive + fog

   • Indulni fogunk. = We will leave.

For the verb lenni (to be), the future form is usually lesz.

So in this sentence, lesz is the natural choice because the main verb is basically to be.

Because Hungarian normally uses the definite article a / az when talking about a specific, identifiable thing.

Here, a jótékonysági futás means the charity run, not just a charity run in general.

Without the article, the sentence would sound unnatural in ordinary speech. Hungarian uses articles quite regularly, often more regularly than English learners expect.

So:

• a jótékonysági futás = the charity run
• not just some run, but the specific one already known in context

Jótékonysági is an adjective meaning something like charity-related, charitable, or for charity.

It comes from:

• jótékonyság = charity, philanthropy
• -i = a common suffix that turns a noun into an adjective meaning related to, of, or connected with

So:

• jótékonyság = charity
• jótékonysági = charity-related / charitable / for charity

In this sentence:

• jótékonysági futás = charity run

This -i suffix is very common in Hungarian:

• Budapest → budapesti = from Budapest / Budapest-related
• iskola → iskolai = school / school-related

Because futás is a noun, while futni is the infinitive verb.

• futni = to run
• futás = running, a run

The ending -ás / -és is a very common way to make a noun from a verb in Hungarian.

Examples:

• olvasni = to read → olvasás = reading
• tanulni = to study → tanulás = studying
• futni = to run → futás = running / run

So jótékonysági futás is literally charity running, but in natural English that becomes charity run.

It is in the nominative case, which is the basic dictionary form.

In Hungarian, the subject of the sentence usually has no visible ending. That is normal.

Here:

• a jótékonysági futás is the subject
• it is the thing that will be / will take place

So there is no extra case suffix because the nominative often has zero ending.

That is why you see the bare noun:

• futás, not some special marked form

Yes, the word order can change, and in Hungarian that often changes the emphasis rather than the basic meaning.

The sentence you have:

• Ma lesz a jótékonysági futás.

This puts today in a prominent position, so it can feel like:

• It will be today that the charity run happens
• or an answer to When will the charity run be?

Another natural order is:

• A jótékonysági futás ma lesz.

That makes the charity run the topic first, and then adds the information that it will be today.

So both are possible, but the focus is slightly different.

This is very typical of Hungarian: word order is not as fixed as in English, and it often reflects topic and focus.

A rough English-friendly pronunciation would be:

mah less aw YOH-tay-ko-ny-SHAA-ghee FOO-taash

A few useful details:

• Ma = mah
• lesz = roughly like less
• a = a short unstressed vowel, somewhere between aw and uh
• j in Hungarian sounds like English y
• s in Hungarian sounds like English sh
• ny is like the ny sound in canyon
• á is a long vowel, so -sági has a long aa
• futás = foo-taash

Also, Hungarian normally stresses the first syllable of each word:

• MA
• LESZ
• A
• JÓtékonysági
• FUtás