Ez a főétel hagyományos.

• Ez = this
• a = the
• főétel = main course
• hagyományos = traditional

So the structure is literally something like This the main course traditional, but in natural English it means This main course is traditional or This is the traditional main course, depending on context.

In Hungarian, when a demonstrative like ez (this) comes before a noun, it normally appears together with the definite article:

• ez a főétel = this main course
• az a főétel = that main course

So ez a ... is a very common pattern. For an English speaker, it can feel like saying this the main course, but in Hungarian that is normal grammar.

Hungarian often leaves out the verb to be in the present tense, third person when the predicate is a noun or adjective.

So:

• Ez a főétel hagyományos. = This main course is traditional.

There is no need to add van here.

Compare:

• A leves meleg. = The soup is hot.
• Ez az étel finom. = This food is tasty.

But the verb does appear in other situations, for example:

• A főétel hagyományos volt. = The main course was traditional.
• Én fáradt vagyok. = I am tired.

Here, hagyományos is not directly describing the noun inside the noun phrase. It is the predicate adjective: it tells you what this main course is like.

So:

• Ez a főétel hagyományos. = This main course is traditional.

But if you want the adjective directly before the noun, like the traditional main course, then Hungarian does that too:

• a hagyományos főétel = the traditional main course
• ez a hagyományos főétel = this traditional main course

So Hungarian does use adjectives before nouns, but not in this sentence structure.

Yes, főétel is one word. It is a compound:

• fő = main, principal
• étel = food, dish

Together, főétel means main dish or main course.

Hungarian makes a lot of compound words, and they are often written as one word.

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

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

Since főétel starts with the consonant sound f, the article is:

• a főétel

Compare:

• az étel = the food
• az alma = the apple
• a leves = the soup

So ez a főétel is correct, not ez az főétel.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

• Ez ≈ ez
• a ≈ short aw
• főétel ≈ something like fur-ay-tel, but with Hungarian vowels
• hagyományos ≈ roughly hawdyo-maa-nyosh

A few useful points:

• ő is a long rounded vowel, different from English vowels.
• é is a long ay-like sound.
• á is a long vowel too.
• ny is pronounced like the ny in canyon.
• Stress in Hungarian usually falls on the first syllable of each word.

So the sentence is stressed roughly like:

EZ a FŐ-étel ha-GYO-má-nyos

Yes, Hungarian word order is fairly flexible, but changing it usually changes the emphasis.

The neutral sentence is:

• Ez a főétel hagyományos.

This simply states the fact.

Other word orders are possible in certain contexts, but they may sound more marked or emphasize a different part:

• Hagyományos ez a főétel. = emphasis on traditional
• Ez hagyományos főétel. = less natural for the original meaning; it can suggest This is a traditional main course in a different structure

For learners, the safest neutral version is:

• Ez a főétel hagyományos.

You would put the adjective before the noun:

• ez a hagyományos főétel = this traditional main course

Compare the two patterns:

• Ez a főétel hagyományos. = This main course is traditional.
• Ez a hagyományos főétel. = This is the traditional main course or this traditional main course, depending on context

So word order makes an important difference.

No. Hungarian does not have grammatical gender like many European languages do.

That means:

• no masculine/feminine noun classes
• no adjective changes for gender
• no need to learn separate forms like traditional vs some feminine version

So hagyományos stays the same regardless of whether the noun refers to something that would be masculine, feminine, or neuter in another language.

Yes. If you want to say These main courses are traditional, you would say:

• Ezek a főételek hagyományosak.

Changes:

• ez → ezek = this → these
• főétel → főételek = main course → main courses
• hagyományos → hagyományosak = plural predicate adjective

So singular and plural do matter in Hungarian, even though there is still no visible are in this present-tense third-person sentence.