Az esőkabát száraz.

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article: a and az.

• a is used before words that begin with a consonant sound.
• az is used before words that begin with a vowel sound.

Since esőkabát begins with e, Hungarian uses az: Az esőkabát.

This is similar to the difference between a and an in English, although Hungarian uses this distinction only for the definite article.

Esőkabát is a compound word:

• eső = rain
• kabát = coat

So literally it is raincoat. Hungarian often forms compounds this way, by joining two nouns into one word.

In Hungarian, adjectives used in simple statements like this do not agree in number or gender with the noun.

So:

• Az esőkabát száraz. = The raincoat is dry.
• Az esőkabátok szárazak. = The raincoats are dry.

Notice that in the singular, száraz stays just száraz. Hungarian does not have grammatical gender like he/she or masculine/feminine adjective agreement in many European languages.

In the present tense, third person singular, Hungarian usually does not use an explicit word for is.

So:

• Az esőkabát száraz. literally looks like The raincoat dry
• but it means The raincoat is dry

This is completely normal in Hungarian. The verb van (to be) is usually omitted in sentences like this in the present tense.

No, that would not be correct in normal Hungarian.

In a simple present-tense sentence with a third-person subject and an adjective, Hungarian leaves out van:

• correct: Az esőkabát száraz.
• not correct here: Az esőkabát van száraz.

You do use forms of to be in other persons, for example:

• Száraz vagyok. = I am dry.
• Száraz vagy. = You are dry.

But in he/she/it is type sentences, the verb is usually omitted in the present tense.

Az esőkabát száraz. is the neutral, natural word order: subject + adjective/predicate.

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

For example:

• Az esőkabát száraz. = neutral statement
• Száraz az esőkabát. = puts more focus on dry, something like The raincoat is dry / It’s the raincoat that’s dry

So the original order is the most straightforward one for a beginner.

A few useful pronunciation points:

• e in esőkabát is like e in bed, but short
• ő is a long rounded vowel that English does not really have
• á is a long vowel, somewhat like the a in father
• sz is pronounced like English s
• plain s in Hungarian is pronounced like English sh
• z is like English z

So:

• esőkabát sounds roughly like eh-shoe-kah-baat
• száraz sounds roughly like saa-rawz

Those English approximations are not exact, but they help with the basics.

Because esőkabát is the subject of the sentence in its basic dictionary form.

Hungarian often adds endings to nouns for roles like in, on, to, with, and so on, but the plain subject form usually has no ending.

Here:

• az esőkabát = the raincoat

No extra case ending is needed because it is simply the thing being talked about.

It would be:

Az esőkabátok szárazak.

Changes:

• esőkabát → esőkabátok = raincoats
• száraz → szárazak = dry, plural predicate adjective

So Hungarian marks both the noun and the predicate adjective in this kind of plural sentence.

Yes, but then it works as an attributive adjective inside the noun phrase:

• a száraz esőkabát = the dry raincoat

Compare:

• Az esőkabát száraz. = The raincoat is dry.
  
  • száraz is the predicate.
• a száraz esőkabát = the dry raincoat
  
  • száraz directly modifies the noun.

So the same adjective can appear in both places, but the structure and meaning are different.

Yes, normally it is written as one word because it is a standard Hungarian compound noun.

Hungarian frequently writes compounds as single words where English may also use one word, two words, or a hyphen. In this case:

• esőkabát = raincoat

Writing eső kabát would not be standard.