Learn Hardcore Hungarian: A konyha ma tiszta, a szoba tegnap piszkos volt. - The kitchen is clean today, the room was dirty yesterday.

In Hungarian, the present-tense 3rd‑person form of “to be” (van) is omitted when the predicate is a noun or an adjective. So you say A konyha ma tiszta (“The kitchen is clean today”), not “A konyha ma van tiszta.” You do use van in present when the predicate is a location/existence (e.g., A konyha a házban van) or in certain set expressions (e.g., Meleg van “It’s warm”).

Why do we have volt in the second clause (a szoba tegnap piszkos volt)?

Because it’s past tense. The past of van (“to be”) is volt, and unlike present 3rd person, past and future copulas are not dropped. Examples:

Present: A szoba piszkos.
Past: A szoba piszkos volt.
Future: A szoba piszkos lesz.

Can I say A konyha ma van tiszta?

No—this is ungrammatical in standard usage. With adjectival predicates in present 3rd person, the copula is omitted: A konyha ma tiszta or Ma tiszta a konyha. Use van for location/existence (e.g., A konyha ma is a helyén van) or set expressions (e.g., Sötét van).

Where can I put the time words ma (“today”) and tegnap (“yesterday”)? Are these word orders okay?

All are grammatical, with slight nuance shifts:

A konyha ma tiszta. (neutral; topic = “the kitchen”)
Ma tiszta a konyha. (neutral; topic = “today”)
A konyha tiszta ma. (possible but more contrastive: “clean today (as opposed to other times)”) Similarly for the past clause:
A szoba tegnap piszkos volt. (neutral)
Tegnap piszkos volt a szoba. (neutral, time‑first)
A szoba piszkos volt tegnap. (more contrastive/focused on “yesterday”)

Is the comma between the two clauses correct? Do I need és (“and”)?

Yes, the comma is fine. Hungarian often links two independent clauses with just a comma: A konyha ma tiszta, a szoba tegnap piszkos volt. You can also add és:

A konyha ma tiszta és a szoba tegnap piszkos volt. (no comma is the most common with short clauses)
A konyha ma tiszta, és a szoba tegnap piszkos volt. (comma is also seen; stylistic)

Do adjectives agree in number or gender with the noun?

Hungarian has no grammatical gender. Agreement works like this:

Attributive (before the noun): no plural suffix on the adjective: piszkos szobák (“dirty rooms”).
Predicative (after a copula): the adjective takes a plural marker: A szobák piszkosak (voltak).

Why do we repeat the article a in both a konyha and a szoba?

Hungarian typically repeats the article for each noun phrase: A konyha ma tiszta, a szoba tegnap piszkos volt. Omitting the second a sounds telegraphic or nonstandard. Use a/az before each definite noun you introduce.

When do I use a vs az?

Use a before a consonant-starting word and az before a vowel-starting word:

a konyha, a szoba
az ablak (“the window”), az asztal (“the table”)

Can I leave out volt in the past, like A szoba tegnap piszkos?

No. In the past and future tenses, the copula must be present: A szoba tegnap piszkos volt. In the present 3rd person only, it’s dropped: A szoba piszkos.

Are piszkos and koszos the same?

Yes, both mean “dirty.” Piszkos is common and neutral; koszos is also very common, often slightly more colloquial. Stronger options include mocskos (“filthy”). “Messy/untidy” is usually rendetlen.

How do I pronounce the tricky letters here?

sz = English “s” (so szoba sounds like “SO‑bah”)
s (not present here) = English “sh”
ny in konyha ≈ “ny” in “canyon” (palatal n)
Stress is always on the first syllable: A KONyha ma TISZta, a SZOba TEGnap PISZkos volt.

Why is the adjective after the noun in A konyha tiszta? Could it go before, like English?

This is a predicative structure (“the kitchen is clean”), so the predicate adjective comes after the subject. If you put the adjective before the noun, it becomes attributive: tiszta konyha = “a clean kitchen” (as a description of the noun), not a complete sentence.

Can I move volt earlier, like A szoba tegnap volt piszkos?

You can, but it changes the information structure. A szoba tegnap piszkos volt is neutral. Tegnap volt piszkos a szoba or A szoba tegnap volt piszkos puts contrastive focus on tegnap (“it was yesterday that the room was dirty”). Use this when you want to emphasize the time.

How would I negate or make a future version?

Negation (past): A szoba tegnap nem volt piszkos.
Negation (present): A konyha ma nem tiszta.
Future: A konyha holnap tiszta lesz. / A szoba holnap piszkos lesz.

Do ma and tegnap take any endings?

No, by themselves they’re bare adverbs: ma, tegnap, holnap. You may see formal phrases like a mai napon (“on this day, today”) or compounds like tegnap este (“yesterday evening”), but you don’t add a regular case ending to ma/tegnap in everyday use.

Could I use meg instead of és to connect the clauses?

Yes, colloquially meg often functions like “and,” sometimes with a slight contrastive feel:

A konyha ma tiszta, a szoba meg tegnap piszkos volt. This is very natural in speech.