A fórum a fővárosban kezdődik.

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

So:

• A fórum = the forum
• a fővárosban = in the capital

Hungarian uses the definite article very regularly, even when the noun also has a case ending like -ban.

A useful extra point: a is used before consonants, while az is used before vowels.

• a fórum
• az iskola

Because Hungarian usually adds location endings directly to the noun instead of using separate prepositions.

Here:

• főváros = capital city
• -ban = in

So:

• fővárosban = in the capital

This is very common in Hungarian. English uses separate words like in, to, from, but Hungarian often uses suffixes attached to the noun.

-ban / -ben is the ending meaning in or inside.

So a fővárosban means in the capital.

It is used here because the sentence is talking about the place where the forum begins.

Compare:

• a házban = in the house
• a városban = in the city
• az autóban = in the car

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

Hungarian suffixes often have different forms depending on the vowels in the word. For -ban / -ben:

• -ban is generally used with back-vowel words
• -ben is generally used with front-vowel words

Since főváros takes the back-vowel version, the correct form is:

• fővárosban

You do not need to translate this difference into English; it is just a built-in sound pattern in Hungarian.

The dictionary form is kezdődni, which means to begin / to start.

In the sentence, kezdődik is:

• present tense
• third person singular
• meaning begins or starts

So:

• A fórum ... kezdődik. = The forum begins / starts ...

This verb is intransitive here, meaning the forum itself is beginning.

Hungarian usually does not need a separate subject pronoun when the subject is already clear.

In English, you often need:

• It starts
• He starts
• She starts

In Hungarian, the verb ending already helps show the person and number, and the subject noun is already present:

• A fórum ... kezdődik.

So there is no need to add a pronoun like it.

Not completely. Hungarian word order is more flexible than English word order, and it often changes to show emphasis or topic.

This sentence is a neutral, natural way to say it:

• A fórum a fővárosban kezdődik.

But other orders are possible, depending on emphasis. For example:

• A fővárosban kezdődik a fórum.
  This puts more attention on in the capital.

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

Főváros is a compound word:

• fő = main, chief
• város = city

So literally it is something like main city or chief city, but the normal English meaning is capital or capital city.

Because the article and the suffix do different jobs.

• a shows definiteness: the
• -ban shows location: in

So:

• a fővárosban = in the capital

Hungarian commonly combines both:

• a házban = in the house
• a boltban = in the shop
• az iskolában = in the school

A simple pronunciation guide would be:

• A ≈ a short uh
• fórum ≈ FOH-room
• a fővárosban ≈ uh FUR-vaa-rosh-bon
• kezdődik ≈ KEZ-duh-dik

A few useful pronunciation points:

• Hungarian stress is almost always on the first syllable of each word.
• ő is a long front rounded vowel, which English does not have exactly.
• sz sounds like English s
• plain s sounds like English sh

So in fővárosban, the s is pronounced like sh.