A januári hirdetés újnak tűnik.

A is the Hungarian definite article, meaning the.

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

• a
• az

Which one is used depends on the following sound. Here it is a januári hirdetés, because januári begins with a consonant sound.

So:

• a hirdetés = the advertisement
• a januári hirdetés = the January advertisement / the advertisement from January

januári is an adjective formed from január (January) with the suffix -i.

This -i suffix is very common in Hungarian and means something like:

• related to
• from
• belonging to

So:

• január = January
• januári = January / from January / January-related

In this sentence, januári hirdetés means the January advertisement or the advertisement from January.

This same pattern is very common:

• budapesti = from Budapest / Budapest-related
• iskolai = school / school-related
• nyári = summer / summer-related

Yes. In a januári hirdetés, januári is an adjective modifying hirdetés.

So the structure is:

• a = the
• januári = January / from January
• hirdetés = advertisement

Together: the January advertisement.

Hirdetés usually means advertisement, ad, or sometimes announcement, depending on context.

So a januári hirdetés could mean:

• the January ad
• the advertisement from January
• in some contexts, the January notice/announcement

The exact English translation depends on the situation, but advertisement/ad is the most straightforward meaning.

This is one of the most important points in the sentence.

With verbs like tűnik (seems) and often látszik (appears/looks), Hungarian commonly puts the adjective in the -nak/-nek form.

So:

• új = new
• újnak = as new / to be new in appearance

In English we say:

• It seems new

In Hungarian, the natural pattern is:

• Újnak tűnik

You can think of this as a special complement form used after tűnik.

Other examples:

• Jónak tűnik. = It seems good.
• Furcsának tűnik. = It seems strange.
• Drágának tűnik. = It seems expensive.

So újnak is not random: it is the form Hungarian normally uses here.

The ending -nak/-nek is usually called the dative ending in Hungarian.

Very often it means to or for, but in this sentence it is not literally translating to or for. Instead, it is part of the grammar used with tűnik.

Why -nak and not -nek?
Because of vowel harmony:

• words with back vowels usually take -nak
• words with front vowels usually take -nek

Since új contains a back vowel (ú), it becomes újnak.

Here tűnik means seems or appears.

It is the 3rd person singular form of the verb tűnik, so in this sentence it means:

• seems
• appears

So:

• A januári hirdetés újnak tűnik. = The January advertisement seems new.

A useful thing to remember is that tűnik often works with an adjective in -nak/-nek form:

• érdekesnek tűnik = seems interesting
• nehéznek tűnik = seems difficult

Hungarian often leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed.

In English, we often say:

• It seems new

But in Hungarian, the verb form and the sentence structure already make the subject clear, so no separate it is necessary.

In this sentence, the subject is explicitly stated anyway:

• A januári hirdetés = the January advertisement

So Hungarian does not need any extra subject pronoun.

The structure is:

A januári hirdetés | újnak tűnik
subject | predicate

More literally:

• A januári hirdetés = the January advertisement
• újnak tűnik = seems new

So the sentence is built very similarly to English:

• The January advertisement
  • seems new

The main difference is that Hungarian uses újnak instead of plain új.

The verb is singular because the subject is singular:

• hirdetés = advertisement (singular)

So:

• tűnik = seems (singular)

If the subject were plural, the verb would change:

• A januári hirdetések újnak tűnnek. = The January advertisements seem new.

Yes, Hungarian word order is flexible, but changes in word order often change the focus or emphasis, not just the style.

The neutral sentence is:

• A januári hirdetés újnak tűnik.

This presents the January advertisement as the topic, and then says something about it.

Other word orders are possible in the right context, but they may sound more marked or emphasize a different part of the message.

For a learner, the given order is a very natural one to remember.

That would not mean the same thing.

• A januári hirdetés új. = The January advertisement is new.
• A januári hirdetés újnak tűnik. = The January advertisement seems new.

So:

• új states a fact
• újnak tűnik gives an impression or appearance

This is an important difference.

Not always. It depends on the noun it modifies.

For example:

• januári hirdetés = January advertisement / advertisement from January
• januári időjárás = January weather
• januári fizetés = January salary/pay

So januári does not literally mean only January in every case. It means something like of January, from January, or January-related, and English translation depends on what sounds natural.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

aw YAW-noo-aa-ree HEER-deh-taysh OOY-nawk TOO-neek

A few helpful notes:

• j in Hungarian sounds like English y
• á is a longer a sound
• é is like a long ay
• ű/ü are front rounded vowels, but here the key word is tűnik, often approximated by English speakers as too-neek, though that is not exact
• új starts with a long ú and then a y-like glide

Also, stress in Hungarian normally falls on the first syllable of each word:

• JAnuári
• HIRdetés
• ÚJnak
• TŰnik

The most useful takeaway is this pattern:

[noun] + [adjective + -nak/-nek] + tűnik

Examples:

• A ház nagynak tűnik. = The house seems big.
• Ez jónak tűnik. = This seems good.
• A feladat nehéznek tűnik. = The task seems difficult.

So from your sentence, the key model is:

• újnak tűnik = seems new

That is probably the most important part to learn well.