A kölcsönző ma nyitva van.

A is the definite article, so it means the.

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

• a before a consonant sound
• az before a vowel sound

Since kölcsönző begins with a consonant sound, the sentence uses a.

Kölcsönző means a place where things are lent out or rented out, so in English it can be translated as:

• rental shop
• rental place
• hire shop
• sometimes lending office

The exact English translation depends on context. For example, it could be a video rental, bike rental, ski rental, and so on.

It is related to the verb kölcsönöz, which means to lend or to borrow depending on context.

Because it is the subject of the sentence, and subjects in Hungarian are normally in the basic dictionary form, which is the nominative.

So:

• A kölcsönző = the rental shop / the rental place

There is no special subject ending here.

Ma means today.

In this sentence, it tells you the time frame: the rental shop is open today.

Its position is very normal in Hungarian. Time expressions often appear before the main predicate part of the sentence.

So:

• A kölcsönző ma nyitva van. = neutral, natural word order
• literally: The rental shop today open is

Hungarian word order is much more flexible than English word order, and placement often helps show emphasis rather than basic grammar.

Because Hungarian often expresses this idea with a two-part structure:

• nyitva = open in the sense of being in an open state
• van = is

So nyitva van literally means something like is in an open state.

This is the normal way to say that a shop, office, museum, etc. is open.

Examples:

• A bolt nyitva van. = The shop is open.
• A múzeum nyitva van. = The museum is open.

That is a very good question.

Hungarian often omits van in the present tense in third person singular when the predicate is a noun or adjective:

• A bolt nagy. = The shop is big.
• Ő tanár. = He/She is a teacher.

But nyitva behaves differently. In standard Hungarian, with this kind of expression, van is normally kept:

• A bolt nyitva van.

So even though English learners often expect the is to disappear, here it stays.

You may sometimes see nyitva by itself on signs or in very shortened language, but in a full standard sentence nyitva van is the normal form.

Not exactly.

Both can relate to the idea of open, but they are not used in exactly the same way.

• nyitva is the usual word in the sense of open for business / not closed
• nyitott is more like opened / open as an adjective or participle, and it can also have other meanings, such as open-minded

For shops and opening hours, nyitva van is the most natural expression.

So if you want to say a place is open today, nyitva van is the safest and most idiomatic choice.

Normally, no.

A kölcsönző ma nyitva van means The rental shop is open today.

It describes a state, not an event.

If you want to say The rental shop opens today in the sense of beginning to open or starting business today, Hungarian would usually use a different verb, for example:

• A kölcsönző ma nyit.
• A kölcsönző ma kinyit.

So:

• nyitva van = is open
• nyit / kinyit = opens

Yes, Hungarian word order is flexible, but changing it can change the emphasis.

For example:

• A kölcsönző ma nyitva van. = neutral: The rental shop is open today.
• Ma a kölcsönző nyitva van. = Today, the rental shop is open. Slightly more emphasis on today as the setting.
• A kölcsönző ma van nyitva. = stronger contrast on today, something like It is today that the rental shop is open or The rental shop is open today, not on some other day.

So the original sentence is a very natural, neutral version.

The stress in Hungarian is always on the first syllable, so the stress is on köl.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

• köl-csön-ző

Helpful sound notes:

• ö and ő are front rounded vowels, similar to German ö
• cs sounds like English ch in church
• ő is a long vowel, so it is held a little longer than ö

So kölcsönző sounds roughly like KÖL-chön-ző, with the first syllable stressed.

Yes, the definite article a suggests a specific rental shop that is known from the context.

So this is not just a rental shop in general, but the rental shop the speakers have in mind.

If Hungarian wanted to say a rental shop in the indefinite sense, it would use egy:

• Egy kölcsönző ma nyitva van. = A rental shop is open today.

That version is grammatically possible, but it has a different meaning.