A polgármester az önkormányzatnál dolgozik.

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

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

So:

• a polgármester = the mayor
• az önkormányzatnál = at the local government / municipality

Because önkormányzatnál begins with the vowel ö, Hungarian uses az.

This is similar to how English uses a and an, but Hungarian does it with the, not with the indefinite article.

The word breaks down like this:

• önkormányzat = municipality, local government
• -nál / -nél = at, by, with (depending on context)

So önkormányzatnál means at the municipality, at the local government office, or sometimes for the local government, depending on context.

In this sentence, the natural meaning is that the mayor works at/for the local government.

-nál / -nél is a Hungarian case ending often called the adessive. It commonly expresses location near or at something.

Examples:

• az iskolánál = at the school
• az orvosnál = at the doctor’s
• az önkormányzatnál = at the municipality / local government

The form is:

• -nál after back-vowel words
• -nél after front-vowel words

Because önkormányzat contains back vowels overall, the suffix is -nál.

Good question. Both are possible in some contexts, but they are not exactly the same.

• -ban / -ben means in, inside
• -nál / -nél means at, by, with

So:

• önkormányzatban = in the municipality / in the local government institution
• önkormányzatnál = at the municipality / with the local government / for the local government

With workplaces, Hungarian often prefers -nál / -nél, especially when talking about being employed somewhere.

So Az önkormányzatnál dolgozik sounds natural for He/She works for the local government.

dolgozik means works.

It is the 3rd person singular form of the verb dolgozni = to work.

So:

• én dolgozom = I work
• te dolgozol = you work
• ő dolgozik = he/she works

The -ik here is just part of this verb’s form. Some Hungarian verbs traditionally belong to the -ik verbs group, and dolgozik is one of them. As a learner, the most important thing is simply to recognize dolgozik as he/she works.

Hungarian often leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed, because the verb ending already shows the person.

Here, the subject is not a pronoun anyway; it is explicitly stated:

• A polgármester = the mayor

So there is no need for a separate he or she.

More generally, Hungarian uses ő for both he and she, since Hungarian does not normally mark gender in pronouns.

No, Hungarian word order is more flexible than English word order.

This sentence has a neutral, straightforward structure:

• A polgármester = topic / what we are talking about
• az önkormányzatnál dolgozik = what is said about the topic

A different word order can change the emphasis. For example:

• Az önkormányzatnál dolgozik a polgármester.
  This can put more focus on where the mayor works.

So the original sentence is the most neutral way to say it.

In Hungarian, if you mean the mayor as a role or known person, you normally use the definite article:

• a polgármester = the mayor

If you were using the person’s name as a title, that would be different:

• Kovács polgármester = Mayor Kovács

But in this sentence, polgármester is a common noun meaning the mayor, so a is expected.

polgármester means mayor.

It is the head of a town or city administration. In this sentence, it simply refers to the mayor.

You do not need to split the word apart as a beginner, but if you are curious, Hungarian often forms nouns by combining meaningful parts. Still, the safest way to learn polgármester is as one vocabulary item: mayor.

It can suggest either, depending on context.

Az önkormányzatnál dolgozik can mean:

• the mayor works at the municipal office
• the mayor works for the local government

In real usage, workplace expressions with -nál / -nél often refer to employment or institutional affiliation, not just physical location.

So the sentence most naturally means that the mayor works for / at the municipality.

Hungarian often builds long words by adding endings to a base word.

Here:

• önkormányzat = base noun
• -nál = case ending

So the long word is completely normal in Hungarian.

A rough pronunciation guide:

• ön sounds somewhat like urn but with rounded lips
• kor-mány-zat
• nál rhymes roughly with Carl in non-rhotic accents, though not exactly

The stress in Hungarian is always on the first syllable:

• ÖN-kor-mány-zat-nál

The most important thing is to recognize it as one noun plus one ending, not as an unbreakable mystery word.