A szabály a játéktáblán van.

A quick breakdown:

• a = the
• szabály = rule
• a = the
• játéktáblán = on the game board
• van = is

Grammatically:

• A szabály is the subject: the rule
• a játéktáblán is the location: on the game board
• van tells you that something is located somewhere

So the structure is basically:

The rule + on the game board + is

That may feel a little different from English word order, but it is completely normal in Hungarian.

Because both nouns are definite.

• a szabály = the rule
• a játéktáblán = on the game board

Hungarian uses the definite article with both noun phrases, just as English can say the rule and the game board.

Also, Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

• a before a consonant
• az before a vowel

So here it is a szabály and a játéktábla, because both following words begin with consonant sounds.

Hungarian often uses case endings where English uses prepositions.

Here, on is expressed by the superessive ending:

• -n
• -on
• -en
• -ön

So:

• játéktábla = game board
• játéktáblán = on the game board

Instead of saying a separate word for on, Hungarian attaches the location meaning directly to the noun.

This is very common:

• asztalon = on the table
• széken = on the chair
• könyvön = on the book

Because the final -a in játéktábla changes to -á before many suffixes.

So the pattern is:

• játéktábla
• játéktáblá-
• játéktáblán

This vowel lengthening is very common with nouns ending in -a or -e.

For example:

• tábla → táblán
• mese → mesében

So the change is not random. It is part of how Hungarian words often behave when a suffix is added.

That is a very common and important question.

In the present tense, third person, Hungarian often leaves out van when the predicate is a noun or adjective:

• A szabály fontos. = The rule is important.
• Ő tanár. = He/She is a teacher.

But when you are talking about location or existence, Hungarian normally keeps van:

• A szabály a játéktáblán van. = The rule is on the game board.
• A könyv az asztalon van. = The book is on the table.

So here van is necessary because the sentence is about where the rule is.

It can change, but the meaning focus changes too.

A szabály a játéktáblán van. is a natural neutral sentence, especially if the rule is the topic and you are saying where it is.

You could also say:

• A játéktáblán van a szabály.

This puts more attention on the location, something like:

• It is on the game board that the rule is
• or more naturally in English, The rule is on the game board

Both can be correct, but they are not used in exactly the same context. Hungarian word order is strongly connected to topic and focus, not just grammar.

It is one word, and it is a compound noun:

• játék = game
• tábla = board

Together:

• játéktábla = game board

Hungarian makes a lot of compound nouns this way, and they are often written as a single word.

So játéktáblán literally contains:

• játék
• tábla
• the location ending meaning on

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

There is no special ending on szabály here because it is the subject of the sentence.

So:

• szabály = basic form, rule
• a szabály = the rule

By contrast, játéktáblán is not in the basic form, because it has the location ending attached.

A few helpful pronunciation points:

• sz is pronounced like English s
• j is pronounced like English y
• ly in modern Hungarian is also pronounced like y
• á is a long vowel, roughly like the a in father
• stress is usually on the first syllable of each word

So roughly:

• szabály sounds like saw-baay or suh-baay depending on how closely you approximate Hungarian vowels
• játéktáblán begins with yaa-

The most useful thing for a beginner is probably this:

• szabály: first sound is plain s, not z
• játéktáblán: the j sounds like y

Normally, no. That would sound unnatural in standard Hungarian.

If you mean the rule and the game board, the articles should stay:

• A szabály a játéktáblán van.

Hungarian does sometimes omit articles in certain special contexts, but not in a basic sentence like this one.

So for a learner, the safe rule is:

• use a/az when English would naturally say the and the noun is definite