Száz ember vár.

After a number, Hungarian normally uses the noun in the singular, not the plural.

So:

• száz ember = one hundred person/people
• not száz emberek

This is one of the big differences from English. In English, you say a hundred people. In Hungarian, you say száz ember.

The same pattern appears with other numbers too:

• két könyv = two books
• három diák = three students
• öt autó = five cars

With a subject like száz ember, Hungarian normally uses a singular verb.

So the standard form is:

• Száz ember vár.

Not:

• Száz ember várnak.

This is another place where Hungarian works differently from English. The number + noun phrase is often treated as a single quantity, so the verb stays singular.

A useful contrast:

• Száz ember vár.
• Százan várnak.

The second version is also correct, but it has a different structure. There, százan means something like a hundred people, and that form takes a plural verb.

Hungarian often leaves out the article in this kind of sentence.

So:

• Száz ember vár.

is a normal way to say that a hundred people are waiting.

You would add a/az only if the group is definite or already known in the context:

• A száz ember vár. = the hundred people are waiting

So the version without an article is the natural indefinite form.

Vár is the 3rd person singular present tense form of the verb várni.

So:

• várni = to wait
• ő vár = he/she/it waits

In this sentence, the subject is száz ember, and the verb form used with it is vár.

This is also the indefinite conjugation, because there is no definite direct object here.

Hungarian vár usually does not need a separate word matching English for.

If you say what someone is waiting for, Hungarian normally uses a direct object:

• A buszt várja. = He/she is waiting for the bus.
• A barátját várja. = He/she is waiting for his/her friend.

In Száz ember vár., no object is stated. It simply says that a hundred people are waiting.

Hungarian word order is much more flexible than English word order. It depends a lot on topic, focus, and what is already known in the conversation.

Száz ember vár. is a very natural, neutral sentence.

Vár száz ember. is possible in the right context, but it sounds less neutral and more context-dependent. It could be used if the act of waiting is being presented first, or if the sentence is answering a specific question.

For a learner, Száz ember vár. is the safest default.

Ember basically means human being or person.

In different contexts, it can sometimes mean:

• person
• human
• sometimes even man in a general, older, or broader sense

But in száz ember, the natural meaning is people, not specifically males.

So here, ember is best understood as person/people.

A rough pronunciation is:

saaz EM-ber vaar

More precisely:

• sz is pronounced like English s in see
• á is a long vowel
• e in ember is like e in bed
• r is a tapped or lightly rolled r

Approximate IPA:

• száz = /saːz/
• ember = /ˈɛmbɛr/
• vár = /vaːr/

Also, Hungarian normally stresses the first syllable of each word.

The accents are an important part of Hungarian spelling. They are not optional.

In száz and vár, the letter á is different from a. It is not just a stressed version of a. It is a separate vowel sound.

So:

• a and á are different letters
• changing them can change pronunciation and sometimes meaning

That means you should learn száz and vár with the accents included.

Yes. Százan várnak is also correct.

This uses százan, which is a special form used when talking about how many people are involved.

So:

• Száz ember vár. = one hundred people are waiting
• Százan várnak. = a hundred people are waiting

The difference is grammatical:

• száz ember = number + noun, with singular verb
• százan = people-counting form, with plural verb

Both are natural, but Száz ember vár. stays closer to the original sentence structure.