A fúrás reggel kezdődött.

A is the definite article in Hungarian, equivalent to the in English.

So:

• a fúrás = the drilling

Hungarian has two written forms of the definite article:

• a before most consonants
• az before vowels

For example:

• a ház = the house
• az iskola = the school

Fúrás is a noun meaning drilling or the act/process of drilling.

It comes from the verb fúr, meaning to drill.
The suffix -ás / -és often turns a verb into a noun that names the action:

• fúr = to drill
• fúrás = drilling

This is very common in Hungarian:

• olvas = to read → olvasás = reading
• ír = to write → írás = writing

So a fúrás is not a finite verb. It is a noun phrase: the drilling.

Hungarian often expresses time without a separate word like in, at, or on.

Here, reggel is a time adverb meaning:

• in the morning
• this morning
  depending on context

So:

• A fúrás reggel kezdődött. = The drilling started in the morning.

This is normal Hungarian usage. English needs a preposition, but Hungarian often does not.

Not always. Reggel can also be related to morning more generally, and in other contexts Hungarian has forms like:

• reggel = in the morning / this morning
• reggeli = breakfast
• reggelente = in the mornings / every morning

So in this sentence, reggel is clearly a time expression, not breakfast.

Kezdődött means started or began.

It is the past tense, third person singular form of kezdődik, which means to begin / to get started.

Breakdown:

• kezdődik = begins / starts
• kezdődött = began / started

Here it agrees with a fúrás, which is singular:

• A fúrás kezdődött. = The drilling started.

This is a very common learner question.

Hungarian has different ways to express start:

• kezd valamit = start something
• kezdődik = begin / get started

So:

• A munkás kezdte a fúrást. = The worker started the drilling.
  • Here someone actively starts something.
• A fúrás kezdődött. = The drilling started / began.
  • Here the drilling itself is presented as beginning.

So kezdődött is used because the subject is a fúrás and the verb is the intransitive kezdődik.

No, not really.

In English, learners may feel that The drilling started is somehow passive-like, but in Hungarian this sentence is simply built with:

• a noun subject: a fúrás
• an intransitive verb: kezdődött

So Hungarian is not using a special passive construction here. It is more like:

• The drilling began

rather than

• The drilling was started

This is a natural, neutral Hungarian word order.

Structure:

• A fúrás = topic / what the sentence is about
• reggel = time expression
• kezdődött = verb

So the sentence first introduces the topic, the drilling, and then says when it began.

Hungarian word order is flexible, but changing it often changes emphasis:

• A fúrás reggel kezdődött.
  Neutral: the drilling started in the morning.
• Reggel kezdődött a fúrás.
  More emphasis on morning: it was in the morning that the drilling started.

Both are possible, but they are not identical in focus.

Hungarian usually does not need extra subject pronouns like it, and tense is built into the verb itself.

So English may say:

• It started
• It was started

But Hungarian often just uses the verb form:

• kezdődött = started / began

The subject is already stated as a fúrás, so no extra pronoun is needed.

The accents show vowel length and, in some cases, a different vowel quality.

In this sentence:

• ú in fúrás is a long u
• ő in kezdődött is a long front rounded vowel
• ö is shorter than ő

These differences matter in Hungarian pronunciation and spelling. Vowel length can change meaning, so it is important not to ignore the accents.

A rough pronunciation guide:

• A = short aw or uh, depending on accent
• fúrás ≈ foo-raash
• reggel ≈ rehg-ghel
• kezdődött ≈ kezd-oe-doett with rounded ö/ő sounds

A more important point than perfect imitation is to remember:

• double consonants are pronounced longer: gg
• accented vowels are not optional; they are part of the word

Sometimes, yes, depending on context.

Reggel can mean:

• in the morning
• this morning

If the surrounding context is about today, English might naturally say:

• The drilling began this morning.

If the sentence is more general or narrative, then:

• The drilling began in the morning.

Both can be reasonable translations depending on the situation.