A mérőállás a mérőórán látszik.

Both a words are the Hungarian definite article, like the in English.

• a mérőállás = the meter reading
• a mérőórán = on the meter

Hungarian uses a before a consonant sound and az before a vowel sound.

• a mérőállás because mérőállás starts with m
• a mérőórán because mérőórán also starts with m

So az would be wrong here.

It is a compound noun:

• mérő = measuring, meter-
• állás = standing, position, state

In this context, mérőállás means meter reading.

This is very common in Hungarian: instead of using a separate phrase, Hungarian often makes one compound noun.

Yes, óra often means clock, watch, or hour, but in compounds it can also refer to a measuring device, especially a meter.

So:

• mérőóra = meter
• compare with words like vízóra = water meter, gázóra = gas meter

That is why both mérőállás and mérőóra contain mérő. They are two different compounds built from the same idea of measuring.

Because -n here marks location: on the meter.

The base word is mérőóra, and in the sentence it takes the superessive case, which is used for on a surface / on something.

So:

• mérőóra = meter
• mérőórán = on the meter

Also notice the final a changes to á before the ending:

• óra → órán

That vowel lengthening is normal with many Hungarian nouns ending in -a or -e when certain suffixes are added.

Because Hungarian is thinking of the reading as something visible on the face, display, or surface of the meter.

So a mérőórán is the natural choice.

If you were talking about something physically inside a device, Hungarian would usually use a different case, such as one corresponding to in.

Látszik is the verb of the sentence. It means something like:

• is visible
• can be seen
• shows
• appears

So grammatically, the sentence is built around this verb, not around a hidden to be.

It is present tense, third person singular:

• látszik = it is visible / it can be seen

Not really. Hungarian is not using an English-style passive here.

Instead, látszik is an ordinary Hungarian verb with the meaning to be visible / to appear.

So rather than thinking:

• it is seen

it is better to think:

• it is visible
• it shows
• it can be seen

A related word is látható, which also means visible, but látszik is often more natural in everyday speech.

Hungarian word order is much freer than English word order. It is not fixed in the same strict subject–verb–object way.

In this sentence:

• A mérőállás is the topic: what the sentence is about
• a mérőórán látszik says something about it

So the sentence has a natural topic + comment structure.

That is why the verb can come later than an English speaker might expect.

Yes, Hungarian often allows that, but the emphasis changes.

For example:

• A mérőállás a mérőórán látszik.
  Neutral: the sentence is about the meter reading.

• A mérőórán látszik a mérőállás.
  Also natural; this can sound a bit more like you are drawing attention to where it is visible.

So different orders are possible, but they are not completely interchangeable in tone and emphasis.

Yes. A mérőállás is the subject of the sentence.

The verb látszik is singular, which matches the singular subject.

Hungarian does not need a dummy subject like English it in a sentence such as It can be seen... The actual thing being talked about, a mérőállás, is the subject directly.

Because látszik belongs to a group of Hungarian verbs whose dictionary form in third person singular ends in -ik. These are often called -ik verbs.

So when you learn the verb, you learn it as:

• látszik = is visible, appears

Its infinitive is:

• látszani = to be visible, to appear

For beginners, the most important thing is simply to recognize látszik as the normal dictionary form of this verb.

A few useful points:

• Hungarian stress normally falls on the first syllable of each word.
• sz is pronounced like English s
• a single s in Hungarian is pronounced like English sh, though there is no single s in this sentence

Roughly:

• mérőállás ≈ MAY-røø-aal-laash
• mérőórán ≈ MAY-røø-oo-raan
• látszik ≈ LAA-tsik

And the whole sentence is stressed roughly like this:

• A MÉrőállás a MÉrőórán LÁTszik.

The long vowels marked with accents, such as á, ó, ő, should be held longer than the short versions.