Breakdown of A hajtás mellett van a metszőolló.
Questions & Answers about A hajtás mellett van a metszőolló.
That is a very common question. In Hungarian, the 3rd person present form of to be is often omitted with noun or adjective predicates:
A metszőolló éles. = The pruning shears are sharp.
Ez egy hajtás. = This is a shoot.
But with location or existence, van is normally kept:
A metszőolló az asztalon van. = The pruning shears are on the table.
A hajtás mellett van a metszőolló. = The pruning shears are next to the shoot.
So here van is needed because the sentence tells you where something is.
Mellett means next to / beside. It is a postposition, which is like a preposition in English, except it comes after the noun instead of before it.
So:
a hajtás mellett = next to the shoot
English uses prepositions: next to the shoot
Hungarian often uses postpositions: the shoot next-to
This is completely normal in Hungarian.