A jelenről beszélünk.

A is the Hungarian definite article, equivalent to the in English.

So A jelenről literally means about the present.

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

• a
• az

Which one is used depends on the following sound. Before a consonant, Hungarian usually uses a; before a vowel, it usually uses az. Since jelenről begins with j, this sentence uses a.

Because Hungarian often expresses ideas like about something by adding a suffix to the noun instead of using a separate preposition.

Here:

• jelen = present
• jelenről = about the present

The ending -ról / -ről means about / from off in different contexts. With the verb beszél (to speak/talk), it gives the meaning talk about.

So:

• a jelenről beszélünk = we are talking about the present

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

Hungarian suffixes often have different forms depending on the vowels in the word.
The noun jelen contains front vowels (e, e), so it takes the front-vowel form:

• -ről

Compare:

• jelenről = about the present
• napról = about the day

A simple way to remember it:

• back-vowel words often take -ról
• front-vowel words often take -ről

The base verb is beszél, which means to speak or to talk.

Beszélünk breaks down like this:

• beszél- = speak / talk
• -ünk = we

So beszélünk means we speak or we are talking.

In this sentence, English would most naturally say we are talking, but Hungarian uses its present tense here without needing a separate form like are talking.

It is:

• 1st person plural = we
• present tense

So beszélünk means:

• we speak
• we are speaking
• we talk
• we are talking

Which English version is best depends on context.

Hungarian does not form the progressive the same way English does.

English distinguishes between:

• we speak
• we are speaking

Hungarian very often uses the same present-tense form for both ideas:

• beszélünk

The surrounding context tells you whether it means a general action or something happening right now.

So A jelenről beszélünk can naturally mean We are talking about the present.

Yes, Hungarian word order is flexible, and changing it can shift the emphasis.

This version:

• A jelenről beszélünk

puts focus on what we are talking about: the present.

Other orders are possible, for example:

• Beszélünk a jelenről.

This is also correct and may sound more neutral in some contexts.

Hungarian word order often reflects focus, topic, and emphasis, not just strict grammatical rules. So learners should not expect one single fixed order like in English.

Beszélünk here is in the indefinite conjugation.

Hungarian verbs can have two conjugation patterns:

• indefinite
• definite

With beszél valamiről (talk about something), the verb normally uses the indefinite pattern, because the noun is part of a postpositional/case-marked phrase, not a direct object that triggers definite conjugation.

So even though a jelenről contains the definite article a, the verb still appears as:

• beszélünk

not a definite-conjugation form.

Yes. In Hungarian grammar, -ról/-ről is usually treated as a case suffix.

It often has meanings like:

• from off
• about

In this sentence it has the about meaning because of the verb beszél.

Examples:

• a könyvről beszélünk = we are talking about the book
• a múltról beszélünk = we are talking about the past
• a jelenről beszélünk = we are talking about the present

So instead of using an English-style preposition before the noun, Hungarian attaches the meaning directly to the noun.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

• A ≈ short aw
• jelenről ≈ YEH-lehn-røl
• beszélünk ≈ beh-SAY-loonk

A few helpful notes:

• j in Hungarian sounds like English y
• sz sounds like English s
• s by itself sounds like English sh
• é is a long vowel, roughly like ay in say
• ö and ő are rounded front vowels, which do not exist in standard English, so they may take practice

Yes, it could, depending on context.

Hungarian present tense often covers both:

• a general statement: We talk about the present
• an action happening now: We are talking about the present

If you saw this sentence by itself, either reading might be possible. In real conversation, the situation usually makes the intended meaning clear.