Learn Hardcore Hungarian: A család ma a lakásban marad, mert a gyerek fáradt. - The family stays in the apartment today because the child is tired.

Hungarian drops the 3rd‑person present copula (van) when the predicate is a noun or an adjective. So A gyerek fáradt is the normal way to say the child is tired. Use the copula:

with places/adverbs: A gyerek a lakásban van., A gyerek itt van.
in past/future: A gyerek fáradt volt/lesz.
in 1st/2nd person: Fáradt vagyok/vagy. Negation still omits it in the 3rd‑person present: A gyerek nem fáradt.

Why is the verb singular (marad) even though a család refers to multiple people?

Család is grammatically singular in Hungarian, so the verb is singular: A család … marad. If you make the subject plural, the verb becomes plural: A családok … maradnak.

Why a lakásban (inessive) and not a lakásba (illative)?

-ban/-ben means in (static location). -ba/-be means into (movement). Since the family is staying in the apartment (no movement), you use a lakásban.

How do I choose between -ban and -ben?

By vowel harmony:

Back-vowel stems (a, á, o, ó, u, ú) take -ban: lakásban, házban.
Front-vowel stems (e, é, i, í, ö, ő, ü, ű) take -ben: kertben, székben, tükörben. Since lakás has back vowels (a, á), it takes -ban.

Could I say A család ma otthon marad instead? What about itthon?

Yes:

otthon = at home in general or at someone’s home (neutral/there).
itthon = at home here (speaker’s current home base).
a lakásban = in the apartment (more concrete place; uses an article). So you might say:
A család ma otthon marad.
A család ma itthon marad. (if referring to our home)
A család ma a lakásban marad. (in the apartment)

Is the word order fixed? Can I move words around?

Hungarian word order is flexible and used for emphasis. Neutral here is something like Subject–Time–Place–Verb:

A család ma a lakásban marad. To emphasize, put the focused element immediately before the verb:
Focus on today: Ma marad a család a lakásban.
Focus on the place: A lakásban marad ma a család.
Focus on the family (contrastive): A család marad ma a lakásban.

Why is there a comma before mert?

Hungarian places a comma before mert (because) to separate the main clause from the reason clause: main clause, then comma, then mert + finite clause.

Can I start with the reason, like “Because the child is tired, …”?

Prefer mivel when the reason clause comes first:

Mivel a gyerek fáradt, a család ma a lakásban marad. Starting with Mert … sentence-initially is common in speech but often discouraged in formal writing.

Why do we use the definite article a with család and gyerek?

Hungarian uses articles similarly to English:

a/az = the (specific, known)
egy = a/an (non-specific) So a család, a gyerek refer to specific, known entities. Omit the article only in special structures; otherwise család or gyerek without an article sounds incomplete.

Why is it a and not az before család and gyerek?

Use az before a vowel sound and a before a consonant sound. cs and gy are consonants, so a család, a gyerek.

Does marad here mean future (will stay)? Why not use fog?

Hungarian often uses the present for the near future when time is clear from context (e.g., ma). A család ma … marad naturally means will stay today. You can use fog for future if you need extra emphasis or formality:

A család ma a lakásban fog maradni. (perfectly correct but heavier)

How would the sentence change if it were “because the children are tired”?

Make the subject plural and the predicative adjective plural:

… mert a gyerekek fáradtak. Note the plural ending on both the noun (-k) and the predicate adjective (-ak/-ek/-ok).

Any pronunciation tips for tricky letters here?

cs = ch in church: család ≈ CHA-laad (stress on first syllable).
s = sh; sz = s. So lakás ends with sh-sound.
gy is a soft, palatal d (like dy in did you said fast): gyerek ≈ DYEREK.
Long vowels are truly long: á is longer and backer than a.
fáradt is often pronounced with the dt cluster merging to a long t: roughly [faːrɒtː]. Hungarian stress is always on the first syllable of each word.

How do I say “in our apartment” or “in their apartment”?

Use possessive + case:

our: a lakásunkban
their: a lakásukban Structure: noun + possessive suffix + -ban/-ben. The article a/az is normally kept.

Can I drop the article and say A család ma lakásban marad?

That would mean in an apartment (unspecified), which sounds odd unless you specifically want to contrast apartment vs. house. For a specific, known apartment, keep the article: a lakásban.

Is gyerek the same as gyermek?

Yes, both mean child. Gyerek is the everyday word; gyermek is more formal/elevated (legal, official, poetic).