Titokban készítjük a születésnapi tortát.

Titokban means secretly or in secret.

It comes from the noun titok (secret) plus the ending -ban / -ben, which usually means in.

So literally, titokban is something like in secret. In English we usually translate it more naturally as secretly.

This is a very common Hungarian way to form adverb-like expressions:

• titok = secret
• titokban = in secret / secretly

Because Hungarian uses two different conjugations depending on whether the object is definite or indefinite.

Here, the object is a születésnapi tortát = the birthday cake, which is definite. Because of that, Hungarian uses the definite conjugation:

• készítjük = we make it / we are making it

Compare:

• Készítünk egy tortát. = We are making a cake.
  indefinite object → készítünk
• Készítjük a tortát. = We are making the cake.
  definite object → készítjük

So készítjük is used because the sentence has a specific, known cake.

Because tortát is the accusative form, which marks the direct object of the verb.

The basic noun is:

• torta = cake

As the direct object, it becomes:

• tortát = cake / the cake (as the thing being made)

The main accusative ending is -t.
So:

• torta
  • -t → tortát

You also see a vowel change here: the final a becomes á before the ending. That is a normal pattern in many Hungarian words.

Születésnapi means birthday in the sense of birthday-related.

It is built from:

• születésnap = birthday
• -i = an adjective-forming ending

So:

• születésnap = birthday
• születésnapi = birthday (adjective), literally of birthday / related to a birthday

That is why:

• születésnapi torta = birthday cake

It is written as one word because Hungarian often forms compounds this way.

Because Hungarian verbs already show the subject in their endings.

In készítjük, the ending tells you that the subject is we.

So Hungarian usually does not need to say mi (we) unless it is being emphasized.

Compare:

• Készítjük a tortát. = We are making the cake.
• Mi készítjük a tortát. = We are the ones making the cake.

The second version sounds more emphatic.

Yes, it is in the present tense.

Hungarian present tense can often correspond to either:

• we make
• we are making

The exact English translation depends on context.

So:

• Készítjük a tortát. could mean We make the cake or We are making the cake
• in this context, We are making the birthday cake in secret is the more natural English translation

Hungarian does not have a separate continuous form like English am making / are making.

Hungarian word order is more flexible than English word order. The beginning of the sentence often shows what the speaker wants to emphasize, highlight, or set as the topic.

Starting with Titokban puts some attention on the idea of secretly / in secret.

So:

• Titokban készítjük a születésnapi tortát.
  = emphasis on the secret manner
• A születésnapi tortát készítjük titokban.
  = more emphasis on the birthday cake
• Készítjük a születésnapi tortát titokban.
  = also possible, slightly different flow

All of these can be grammatical, but the nuance changes.

A is the definite article, meaning the.

So:

• a születésnapi tortát = the birthday cake

If you used egy, it would mean a / one in an indefinite sense:

• egy születésnapi tortát = a birthday cake

The choice matters because it also affects the verb form:

• Készítünk egy születésnapi tortát. = We are making a birthday cake.
• Készítjük a születésnapi tortát. = We are making the birthday cake.

So the article and the verb conjugation work together.

Because in Hungarian, adjectives do not usually agree with nouns the way they do in many European languages.

That means the adjective stays the same, and the noun gets the case ending.

So:

• születésnapi torta = birthday cake
• születésnapi tortát = birthday cake (accusative)

Notice that only torta changes to tortát.
születésnapi stays the same.

This is normal in Hungarian.

Usually, no—at least not in normal, natural Hungarian for this meaning.

The natural expression here is titokban, meaning secretly / in secret.

Hungarian often uses this exact form for the idea of doing something secretly:

• Titokban találkoznak. = They meet secretly.
• Titokban készítjük a tortát. = We are making the cake secretly.

A learner should treat titokban as the standard expression.

The dictionary form is készít.

That means to make, to prepare, or to produce, depending on context.

From that verb:

• készít = he/she makes
• készítek = I make
• készítünk = we make (indefinite object or no object)
• készítjük = we make it / we are making it (definite object)

So in this sentence:

• készítjük = we are preparing/making it

Here, it refers to the birthday cake.

Yes, grammatically it could, because Hungarian present tense does not directly distinguish between simple present and present continuous the way English does.

So the form itself allows both:

• We make the birthday cake secretly
• We are making the birthday cake secretly

However, in most real contexts, this sentence will be understood as an action happening now or around now, so We are making the birthday cake in secret is usually the best translation.

No. Hungarian has more than one possible verb, depending on nuance.

For example:

• készít = make / prepare
• csinál = do / make
• süt = bake

So you might also hear:

• Titokban sütjük a születésnapi tortát. = We are secretly baking the birthday cake.

That version emphasizes the actual baking more specifically.
Készítjük is broader and can include the whole process of making or preparing it.