Az etetőtál tiszta.

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

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

Since etetőtál begins with e, Hungarian uses az.

Examples:

• a tál = the bowl
• az etetőtál = the feeding bowl

This is similar in function to English a/an, but here it applies to the, not the indefinite article.

In Hungarian, the verb van = is is usually omitted in the present tense, third person singular when the predicate is a noun or adjective.

So:

• Az etetőtál tiszta. = The feeding bowl is clean.

Hungarian does not normally say:

• Az etetőtál van tiszta. ✘

But van does appear in other situations, for example:

• in the past: Az etetőtál tiszta volt. = The feeding bowl was clean.
• in the future: Az etetőtál tiszta lesz. = The feeding bowl will be clean.
• with location/existence: Az etetőtál az asztalon van. = The feeding bowl is on the table.

Yes, etetőtál is one compound word, and Hungarian makes compounds very often.

It is made from:

• etető = feeding / feeder
• tál = bowl

So etetőtál literally means something like feeding bowl or feeder bowl.

This kind of compound is very normal in Hungarian. English often uses separate words where Hungarian prefers one compound word.

Here etetőtál is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative case.

In Hungarian, the nominative usually has no ending, so the basic dictionary form is used.

• Az etetőtál tiszta. = The feeding bowl is clean.

If it were the direct object, it would usually take the accusative ending -t:

• Látom az etetőtálat. = I see the feeding bowl.

So the lack of an ending here is normal: it is just the subject.

Because tiszta is not directly describing the noun inside a noun phrase here; it is the predicate adjective of the sentence.

Compare:

• a tiszta etetőtál = the clean feeding bowl
  
  • here tiszta comes before the noun because it directly modifies it
• Az etetőtál tiszta. = The feeding bowl is clean
  
  • here tiszta is the predicate, so it comes after the subject

So this difference is similar to English:

• the clean bowl
• the bowl is clean

Yes, you can, but the meaning or emphasis changes slightly.

• Az etetőtál tiszta. = neutral statement
• Tiszta az etetőtál. = marked/emphatic; something like The feeding bowl is clean or It’s the feeding bowl that is clean

Hungarian word order is strongly connected to focus and emphasis, not just grammar. So both are possible, but the first version is the most neutral and straightforward for a basic statement.

There is no grammatical gender in Hungarian, so adjectives do not change for masculine/feminine/neuter the way they do in some other languages.

In this sentence, tiszta stays as it is because the subject is singular:

• Az etetőtál tiszta. = The feeding bowl is clean.

With a plural subject, the predicate adjective is usually plural too:

• Az etetőtálak tiszták. = The feeding bowls are clean.

So:

• singular: tiszta
• plural predicate: tiszták

But there is no gender distinction at all.

A very important Hungarian spelling rule is:

• sz = English s
• s = English sh

So tiszta is pronounced roughly like TEES-taw, not TIZH-ta.

A few helpful pronunciation notes for the whole sentence:

• Az ≈ awz
• etetőtál has stress on the first syllable: E-te-tő-tál
• ő is a long rounded vowel with no exact English equivalent
• á is a long vowel, roughly like the vowel in father
• tiszta starts with tis-, where i is like ee in see

Hungarian stress is normally on the first syllable of each word.

Not always. Tiszta has several related meanings depending on context, such as:

• clean
• pure
• clear
• sometimes even sheer or absolute in certain expressions

But in Az etetőtál tiszta, the natural meaning is clearly clean.

So a learner should remember:

• basic meaning: clean
• broader meaning depends on context

In this sentence, az is simply the definite article: the.

Hungarian az can also be a demonstrative pronoun meaning that, but that is a different use.

Compare:

• Az etetőtál tiszta. = The feeding bowl is clean.
  
  • here az = the
• Az a tál tiszta. = That bowl is clean.
  
  • here az a gives the sense of that

So although the word form is the same, its function depends on the sentence structure.