A ruhacsere szombaton lesz a ruhabörzén.

Ruhacsere is a compound noun:

• ruha = clothing, garment, clothes
• csere = exchange, swap

So ruhacsere literally means clothes exchange or clothing swap.

Hungarian makes compounds very easily, so putting two nouns together like this is completely normal.

Because Hungarian and English package this idea differently.

In English, clothes is normally plural. In Hungarian, ruha is a singular noun that can refer to clothing in a general sense. Also, in compounds, Hungarian usually uses the basic singular form:

• ruha
  • csere → ruhacsere
• ruha
  • börze → ruhabörze

So even if English uses a plural idea, Hungarian often uses a singular stem in compounds.

Both a words are the Hungarian definite article, meaning the.

• A ruhacsere = the clothing swap
• a ruhabörzén = at the clothing exchange/fair

Hungarian often uses the definite article in places where English might or might not use the, depending on context. Here it suggests that both the swap and the clothing fair are specific, known things in the conversation.

A quick note:

• a is used before consonant sounds
• az is used before vowel sounds

Because Hungarian marks on Saturday with a suffix attached to the day name.

• szombat = Saturday
• szombaton = on Saturday

The ending here is part of the pattern used with days of the week:

• hétfőn = on Monday
• kedden = on Tuesday
• szerdán = on Wednesday
• csütörtökön = on Thursday
• pénteken = on Friday
• szombaton = on Saturday
• vasárnap or vasárnapon = on Sunday, though vasárnap is very common

So Hungarian usually does not use a separate word like English on. It adds an ending instead.

That ending shows location.

• ruhabörze = clothing exchange, clothing fair, swap fair
• ruhabörzén = at/on the clothing fair

This is the superessive ending: -n / -on / -en / -ön. Its basic idea is on, but in real Hungarian it is also used in many places where English says at or sometimes in.

So a ruhabörzén is best understood as at the clothing fair/exchange event.

Also, because the noun ends in -e, the vowel becomes long before the ending:

• börze → börzén

They are related, but not identical.

• ruhacsere = the actual clothing swap/exchange
• ruhabörze = the clothing fair / exchange market / swap event

So one is more the activity, and the other is more the event or setting where it happens.

That is why the sentence can say that the ruhacsere will be at the ruhabörze.

Lesz is the future form of lenni (to be) in 3rd person singular.

• lesz = will be

So:

• A ruhacsere szombaton lesz ... = The clothing swap will be on Saturday ...

Hungarian often forms the future with fog + infinitive, but lenni is special, and lesz is the normal future form for to be.

Usually not.

In Hungarian, in the present tense, 3rd person singular van is often omitted in sentences like this.

So a present-time version would normally be:

• A ruhacsere szombaton a ruhabörzén van.
  or more naturally:
• A ruhacsere szombaton van a ruhabörzén.

But in many nominal-style present sentences, Hungarian often leaves out van when possible. In the future, though, you do need lesz.

So the sentence has lesz because the event is in the future.

No, Hungarian word order is quite flexible.

This sentence has a neutral, natural order:

• A ruhacsere = topic
• szombaton = time
• lesz = verb
• a ruhabörzén = place

But other orders are possible, depending on what the speaker wants to emphasize. For example:

• Szombaton lesz a ruhacsere a ruhabörzén.
  This puts more attention on Saturday.

• A ruhabörzén lesz a ruhacsere szombaton.
  This puts more attention on the location.

So the order is not random, but it is more flexible than in English.

In Hungarian, sz is pronounced like English s in see.

So:

• szombaton begins with an s sound, not a z sound
• lesz ends with sz, also an s sound

A very important spelling rule for English speakers is:

• sz = s
• s = sh

So Hungarian spelling may look strange at first, but it is very regular once you learn the letter values.