Az iránytű a zsebben van.

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

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

Because iránytű begins with the vowel i, the correct article is az:

• az iránytű = the compass

Compare:

• a zseb = the pocket
• az iránytű = the compass

zsebben is made of:

• zseb = pocket
• -ben = in

So:

• zsebben = in a/the pocket

Hungarian usually expresses meanings like in, on, to, from, etc. with endings attached to the noun, rather than with separate prepositions like English.

So instead of two words like in pocket, Hungarian says one word:

• zsebben

This is because of vowel harmony, a very important feature of Hungarian.

The ending meaning in has two forms:

• -ban
• -ben

Nouns with back vowels usually take -ban. Nouns with front vowels usually take -ben.

zseb has front vowels, so it takes -ben:

• zsebben = in the pocket

Compare:

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

Because the sentence is talking about a specific pocket, not just pockets in general.

• a zsebben = in the pocket

Hungarian often uses the definite article where English might or might not use the, depending on context.

So this sentence presents the location as a definite place:

• Az iránytű a zsebben van.
• The compass is in the pocket.

If you said just zsebben, it would sound less complete here.

That is a very common question, because Hungarian does often omit van in the present tense—but not always.

Hungarian usually omits van in simple statements of identity or description in the third person singular:

• A ház nagy. = The house is big.
• A fiú diák. = The boy is a student.

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

• A könyv az asztalon van. = The book is on the table.
• Az iránytű a zsebben van. = The compass is in the pocket.

So here van is needed because the sentence tells us where the compass is.

This is a very normal, neutral Hungarian word order:

• Az iránytű = topic / what we are talking about
• a zsebben = location
• van = verb

So the sentence structure is basically:

• The compass
  • in the pocket
    • is

Hungarian word order is more flexible than English word order, but changes in order often change the focus or emphasis.

For example:

• Az iránytű a zsebben van. = neutral: The compass is in the pocket.
• A zsebben van az iránytű. = more like It’s in the pocket that the compass is / The compass is in the pocket

Both are possible, but they are not identical in emphasis.

Literally, a zsebben means in the pocket.

It does not itself mean in his pocket or in her pocket. For that, Hungarian normally uses a possessive form:

• a zsebében = in his/her pocket
• a zsebemben = in my pocket
• a zsebedben = in your pocket

So:

• a zsebben = in the pocket
• a zsebében = in his/her pocket

In real-life translation, context may make English choose something more natural, but grammatically the sentence here just says in the pocket.

A few useful points:

• Stress in Hungarian is always on the first syllable
• So iránytű is stressed on i
• The final ű is a long vowel

A rough English-friendly guide would be something like:

• EE-raany-tew

But that is only approximate.

More specifically:

• í/ i sounds like ee in see
• á is a long a
• ny is like the ny in Spanish señor or the ny sound in canyon
• ű is a long front rounded vowel, similar to German ü, but long

So iránytű may be one of those words where listening to native audio helps a lot.

In this sentence, iránytű is singular:

• az iránytű = the compass

The plural is:

• iránytűk = compasses

So:

• az iránytű = the compass
• az iránytűk = the compasses

Notice that the article is still az, because iránytűk also begins with a vowel sound.

The dictionary forms are:

• zsebben → zseb = pocket
• van → van = is / exists

So in analysis:

• Az = the
• iránytű = compass
• a = the
• zsebben = in the pocket
• van = is

This kind of breakdown is very helpful in Hungarian, because so much grammar is built with suffixes attached to the base word.

Not very naturally.

A very literal breakdown would be:

• Az iránytű = the compass
• a zsebben = in the pocket
• van = is

So the Hungarian order is basically:

• The compass in the pocket is

But natural English rearranges it to:

• The compass is in the pocket.

This is a good reminder that Hungarian and English often package the same meaning differently, especially with word order and location expressions.