A fűszernövény az ültetőládában van.

A natural word-by-word breakdown is:

• A = the
• fűszernövény = herb plant, culinary herb
• az = the
• ültetőládában = in the planter box
• van = is

So the full sentence means: The herb plant is in the planter box.

A slightly more natural English rendering might be The herb is in the planter box.

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

• a
• az

They both mean the. The choice depends on the sound that follows:

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

So here:

• a fűszernövény because fűszernövény starts with a consonant sound
• az ültetőládában because ültetőládában starts with a vowel sound

This is similar to English a/an, except Hungarian does this with the, not with the indefinite article.

Hungarian often uses case endings instead of separate prepositions.

Here, -ban / -ben means in.

• ültetőláda = planter box
• ültetőládában = in the planter box

So Hungarian expresses in the planter box as one word rather than in + noun.

This is very common in Hungarian:

• házban = in the house
• kertben = in the garden
• dobozban = in the box

This is due to vowel harmony, one of the most important features of Hungarian.

Hungarian suffixes often come in pairs, and the form depends on the vowels in the word.

For -ban / -ben:

• -ban usually goes with words containing mostly back vowels
• -ben usually goes with words containing front vowels

The word láda has the back vowel á, so the form is -ban:

• láda → ládában

Since ültetőláda ends in láda, it also takes -ban:

• ültetőláda → ültetőládában

It is a compound noun.

It is made from:

• fűszer = spice, seasoning
• növény = plant

So fűszernövény literally means something like spice plant or seasoning plant, and in normal English this is often just herb or herb plant.

Compound nouns are very common in Hungarian. English speakers often need a little time to get used to how naturally Hungarian combines words into one longer noun.

That is a very common and very good question.

In Hungarian, the verb to be is often omitted in the present tense, third person singular when you are simply identifying or describing something:

• A növény zöld. = The plant is green.
• Ő tanár. = He/She is a teacher.

But when talking about location or existence, van is normally used:

• A növény a kertben van. = The plant is in the garden.
• A könyv az asztalon van. = The book is on the table.

So in A fűszernövény az ültetőládában van, van is needed because the sentence tells us where the plant is.

Yes, Hungarian word order is more flexible than English word order, but different orders change the focus or emphasis.

The neutral sentence is:

• A fűszernövény az ültetőládában van.
• The herb plant is in the planter box.

This is a normal, straightforward statement.

But Hungarian can move parts around for emphasis. For example:

• Az ültetőládában van a fűszernövény.
  This puts more attention on the planter box / where it is.

• A fűszernövény van az ültetőládában.
  This can sound contrastive, as if saying It is the herb plant that is in the planter box.

So the order in your sentence is a neutral and natural one.

In Hungarian neutral statements, the part right before the verb is often the most important or most informative part of the sentence.

Here, az ültetőládában comes right before van, which makes the location the key new information:

• A fűszernövény az ültetőládában van.
• The herb plant is in the planter box.

That is a very normal structure for location sentences in Hungarian.

If you said:

• A fűszernövény van az ültetőládában

it would sound more marked, as if contrasting the herb plant with something else.

A few helpful pronunciation points:

• ű and ő are long vowels that do not exist in English in exactly the same way.
• sz is pronounced like English s
• s by itself is pronounced like English sh
• ny is like the ny in Spanish señor, or roughly like ny in canyon
• stress in Hungarian is always on the first syllable

So:

• fűszernövény
  roughly: FUU-ser-no-vayn
  with the stress on fű

• ültetőládában
  roughly: UUL-teh-toe-LAA-daa-ban
  with the stress on ül

These are only approximations, but they can help at the beginning.

It is singular.

In Hungarian:

• singular has no special plural ending
• plural usually uses -k

So:

• fűszernövény = herb plant / herb
• fűszernövények = herb plants / herbs

Your sentence talks about one herb plant:

• A fűszernövény az ültetőládában van.

Yes. That is probably the most natural English translation in many contexts.

Even though fűszernövény literally contains plant, English often prefers a simpler noun:

• herb
• herb plant

So both are possible, depending on the context:

• The herb is in the planter box.
• The herb plant is in the planter box.

If the meaning has already been explained to the learner, it is useful to know that Hungarian sometimes uses a more explicit compound where English may choose a shorter everyday word.