Learn Hardcore Hungarian: A jegy olcsóbb reggel, mint este. - The ticket is cheaper in the morning than in the evening.

Hungarian tends to use the definite article before nouns even when English might leave it out. In this case, a before jegy simply identifies "the specific ticket" being referred to rather than tickets in general.

What's the role of olcsóbb and why is it paired with mint?

Olcsóbb is the comparative form of olcsó (meaning "cheap"). To compare two things, Hungarian adds -bb to the adjective and uses mint (meaning "than"). So olcsó becomes olcsóbb (“cheaper”), followed by mint (“than”) to complete the comparison ("cheaper than...").

Why is it phrased A jegy olcsóbb reggel, mint este instead of specifying exact times like “7 AM” or “10 PM”?

Hungarian often uses simple time expressions like reggel (“in the morning”) or este (“in the evening”) when the specific hour isn’t crucial. If you want to be more precise, you could say something like Reggel 7-kor olcsóbb a jegy, mint este 10-kor, but it’s not required if you only want to distinguish morning from evening.

Could we say Reggel a jegy olcsóbb, mint este instead?

Yes, you can. In Hungarian, word order is flexible, but you would likely place emphasis on “in the morning” by putting Reggel at the start. The meaning remains the same: the ticket is cheaper in the morning than in the evening.

Is it correct if I drop the article and just say Jegy olcsóbb reggel, mint este?

It wouldn’t be grammatically wrong in casual speech, but it might sound less natural. Hungarian speakers usually include the article, particularly in a neutral statement. If you’re being very informal or using note-like shorthand, you might see it without the article.