A bábu piros.

A is the Hungarian definite article, so here it means the.

• a bábu = the doll / the pawn / the dummy (depending on context)

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

• a before consonant sounds
• az before vowel sounds

So you get:

• a bábu
• az alma

In Hungarian, in the present tense, third person singular, the verb to be is usually left out in simple sentences like this.

So:

• A bábu piros. = The doll/pawn is red.

Literally, Hungarian says something like:

• The doll red.

This is completely normal.

But in other persons, Hungarian does use forms of to be:

• Piros vagyok. = I am red.
• Piros vagy. = You are red.
• Piros. = He/she/it is red.

Because in this sentence piros is not directly describing the noun inside the noun phrase; it is the predicate adjective.

Compare:

• A bábu piros. = The pawn is red.
• A piros bábu = the red pawn

So:

• piros bábu = adjective + noun = red pawn
• bábu piros = noun + adjective = the pawn is red

This is a very important difference in Hungarian word order.

No. Hungarian adjectives do not agree with the noun in gender, and Hungarian has no grammatical gender at all.

So piros stays piros here.

Hungarian adjectives are much simpler than in many Indo-European languages:

• no masculine/feminine/neuter agreement
• usually no special agreement for singular vs. plural in this kind of predicate sentence

For example:

• A bábu piros. = The pawn is red.
• A bábuk pirosak. = The pawns are red.

Notice that in the plural predicate, the adjective often takes a plural ending: pirosak.

Bábu is pronounced approximately BAA-boo.

A few key points:

• á is a long vowel
• stress in Hungarian is always on the first syllable
• so the stress is on bá

Roughly:

• bá sounds like baa
• bu sounds like boo

So: BAA-boo

The accent marks vowel length in Hungarian, and vowel length can change the meaning of a word.

So a and á are different vowels, not just the same vowel with extra emphasis.

In bábu, the á must be pronounced long.

This matters because Hungarian spelling is very regular, and the accents are an essential part of the word, not optional decoration.

Piros is pronounced roughly PEE-rosh.

Helpful details:

• pi sounds close to pee
• r is a tapped or rolled Hungarian r
• s in Hungarian is pronounced like English sh

So the end of piros is not ross like English boss. It is more like rosh.

Not necessarily. Bábu can have different meanings depending on context.

Common possibilities include:

• doll
• puppet
• chess pawn
• dummy / figure / piece

So the exact English translation depends on the situation.

If this sentence appeared in a lesson without context, the important grammar point is the structure:

• A + noun + adjective
• The + noun + is + adjective

Yes. Piros a bábu is also grammatical.

Both mean the same basic thing, but the emphasis changes.

• A bábu piros. = a neutral statement: The pawn is red.
• Piros a bábu. = puts more focus on red, something like The pawn is red or It is the pawn that is red

Hungarian word order is often used to show focus and information structure, not just basic grammar.

The plural would be:

• A bábuk pirosak. = The pawns are red.

Changes:

• bábu → bábuk = pawn(s)
• piros → pirosak = plural predicate adjective

So Hungarian often marks plurality on both the noun and the predicate adjective in this kind of sentence.

Not with bábu, because bábu begins with a consonant sound.

Hungarian uses:

• a before consonants
• az before vowels

So:

• a bábu
• az ablak

This choice depends on the following sound, similar to a/an in English, though Hungarian does it with the definite article instead of the indefinite one.

It is completely normal, standard Hungarian.

There is nothing especially formal or informal about it. It is a basic everyday sentence and a very typical example of how Hungarian expresses:

• The X is Y

with no present-tense is in third person singular.

So as a beginner pattern, this is a very useful model sentence.