Az épület jól látszik.

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

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

Since épület begins with the vowel é, the correct form is az épület.

Compare:

• az épület = the building
• a ház = the house

Épület is in the nominative singular, which is the basic dictionary form of the noun. There is no extra ending on it here.

So:

• épület = building
• az épület = the building

In this sentence, az épület is the subject.

Because jól is the adverb form, while jó is the adjective.

• jó = good
• jól = well

Here the word is modifying the verb látszik, so Hungarian uses the adverb:

• jól látszik = is clearly visible / can be seen well

If you said jó látszik, that would be incorrect.

Látszik usually means something like:

• is visible
• can be seen
• sometimes appears / seems

In this sentence, the natural meaning is is visible or can be seen well.

It is related to lát = to see, but látszik is not simply sees. It describes how something is seen or whether it is visible.

So:

• Látom az épületet. = I see the building.
• Az épület látszik. = The building is visible / can be seen.

Not exactly in the same way as English passive grammar, but it often translates like one.

English often says:

• The building can be seen
• The building is visible

Hungarian uses látszik for this idea, without needing a separate passive construction.

So it is best to learn látszik as its own verb meaning to be visible / to show / to be seen.

Because látszik is already the main verb.

The sentence is not built like:

• The building is visible

with a separate verb is plus an adjective. Instead, Hungarian uses the verb látszik:

• Az épület jól látszik.

So the meaning is expressed through one verb, not through to be plus an adjective.

The -ik is part of the verb’s basic 3rd person singular form. Látszik belongs to the group often called -ik verbs.

So the sentence literally has a verb form meaning:

• it is visible
• it can be seen

Since az épület is singular, látszik is also singular.

You do not need to analyze the -ik every time, but it is useful to recognize that látszik is the normal dictionary form of this verb.

No, Hungarian word order is fairly flexible, and changing it changes the emphasis.

The neutral version is:

• Az épület jól látszik.

You could also say:

• Jól látszik az épület.

That version puts more attention on jól látszik or presents the visibility first.

Both are possible, but Az épület jól látszik is a very natural basic sentence.

Usually no. In this sentence, jól látszik means is easy to see, is clearly visible, or shows up well.

That is important, because English learners may connect jól with good and think it means something like looks nice. But here it is about visibility, not beauty.

So:

• Az épület jól látszik. = The building is clearly visible. not
• The building looks good.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

• Az ≈ awz
• épület ≈ AY-poo-let
• jól ≈ yoal
• látszik ≈ laa-tsik

A few useful points:

• é and á are long vowels.
• j is pronounced like English y.
• sz is pronounced like English s.
• plain s in Hungarian is pronounced like English sh.

So in látszik, the sz is an s sound, not a z sound.

Yes. That is a very natural translation.

Depending on context, possible English versions include:

• The building is clearly visible.
• The building can be seen well.
• The building shows up clearly.

All of these capture the idea of Az épület jól látszik.