Learn Hardcore Hungarian: Vasárnap a család az ágyban marad, és együtt eszik. - On Sunday the family stays in bed and eats together.

With vasárnap, the bare form already means on Sunday. You may occasionally see vasárnapon, but that sounds old‑fashioned or very formal. In everyday language, vasárnap alone is standard.

Does Vasárnap have to be at the beginning of the sentence?

No, it doesn’t have to be first, but time expressions often come early in a Hungarian sentence to “set the scene.”

Your sentence in neutral word order:

Vasárnap a család az ágyban marad, és együtt eszik.

You could also say:

A család vasárnap az ágyban marad, és együtt eszik.
A család az ágyban marad vasárnap, és együtt eszik. (more unusual, with extra emphasis on vasárnap)

All of these can be correct; the differences are mainly in emphasis and style. Starting with Vasárnap is very natural when you want to highlight when it happens.

What is the difference between a and az in a család az ágyban?

Both a and az are the definite article (the).

a is used before words that start with a consonant:
- a család = the family
- a ház = the house
az is used before words that start with a vowel (including accented vowels like á, é, ó, ő):
- az ágy = the bed
- az alma = the apple

So you get:

a család (család starts with cs, a consonant)
az ágyban (ágy starts with á, a vowel)

Do we really need the article before ágyban? Could we say Vasárnap a család ágyban marad?

Yes, you can say:

Vasárnap a család ágyban marad, és együtt eszik.

That is grammatical and quite natural.

The difference is nuance:

ágyban marad
roughly like English stays in bed – more general, describing the state/activity of being in bed.
az ágyban marad
more like stays in the bed – it more clearly points to a specific bed (normally their own).

In practice, in this kind of everyday sentence, both ágyban marad and az ágyban marad can be used, and many speakers would not feel a strong difference. If you want a simple “idiomatic” equivalent of English stay in bed, you can safely use the version without the article: ágyban marad.

Why is it ágyban and not ágyben? How does this -ban / -ben ending work?

The ending -ban / -ben means in (inside something). It’s called the inessive case.

Hungarian chooses -ban or -ben by vowel harmony:

Words with back vowels (a, á, o, ó, u, ú) → -ban
- ház → házban (in the house)
- ágy → ágyban (in the bed)
Words with front vowels (e, é, i, í, ö, ő, ü, ű) → -ben
- kert → kertben (in the garden)
- kép → képben (in the picture)

Since ágy has the back vowel á, it takes -ban → ágyban.

Why does család take singular verbs (marad, eszik) when it refers to several people?

In Hungarian, család (family) is grammatically singular, just like in English:

English: The family stays in bed and eats together. (not stay / eat)
Hungarian: A család az ágyban marad, és együtt eszik.

If you want to emphasize the individual members, you can make that explicit and then use a plural verb:

A család tagjai az ágyban maradnak, és együtt esznek.
= The members of the family stay in bed and eat together.

So in your original sentence, singular verbs (marad, eszik) are exactly what you want.

Where is the pronoun they? Why is it not used?

Hungarian is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns (I, you, he, she, they, etc.) are often left out because the verb ending already shows the person and number.

Ők vasárnap az ágyban maradnak. = They stay in bed on Sunday.
More natural: Vasárnap az ágyban maradnak. (without ők)

In your sentence, the subject a család is explicitly stated, so you don’t need any pronoun like ők (they) at all:

Vasárnap a család az ágyban marad, és együtt eszik.

What tense are marad and eszik? Could this also mean will stay and will eat?

Marad and eszik are in the present tense, 3rd person singular indefinite.

Hungarian present tense can cover:

present habitual / general truth:
Vasárnap a család az ágyban marad, és együtt eszik.
= On Sundays, the family (usually) stays in bed and eats together.
scheduled / near future, when the context is clear:
The same Hungarian sentence could also be understood as This Sunday the family will stay in bed and eat together, if you’re talking about plans.

If you really want to make the future explicit, you can use fog:

Vasárnap a család az ágyban fog maradni, és együtt fog enni.
= The family will stay in bed on Sunday and will eat together. (very explicitly future)

What is the difference between marad az ágyban and van az ágyban?

Both use a verb of being/remaining, but they don’t mean the same thing.

van az ágyban = is in bed
Just describes the state: The family is in bed.
marad az ágyban = stays/remains in bed
Emphasizes continuing to be in bed, not getting up.

Your sentence:

… az ágyban marad, és együtt eszik.
says that on Sunday they don’t get out of bed; they remain there and eat there together.

If you said:

Vasárnap a család az ágyban van, és együtt eszik.

it would sound more like a static description (On Sunday the family is in bed and eats together), without the same “staying/remaining” idea.

Why is there a comma before és?

In this sentence you have two finite verbs:

marad (stays)
eszik (eats)

They form two coordinated clauses:

[a család az ágyban marad], és [együtt eszik].

In Hungarian, it is very common (and in many styles preferred) to put a comma between two clauses like this, even when they are joined by és and share the same subject. So:

Vasárnap a család az ágyban marad, és együtt eszik.

In everyday informal writing, some people might drop the comma here, but you will often see it. The comma does not change the meaning; it just reflects a small pause and the clause boundary.

Why is együtt placed before eszik? Could I say eszik együtt?

The neutral position for many adverbs (including együtt = together) is before the verb:

együtt eszik = (they) eat together

This is the natural, default order. Saying eszik együtt is usually strange or marked; it would only be used in special emphatic or poetic word orders, not as a normal sentence.

So you should treat együtt + verb as the standard pattern:

együtt alszanak – they sleep together
együtt dolgoznak – they work together
együtt esznek – they eat together

How is the verb eszik conjugated? Why not eszek or esnek here?

The infinitive is enni = to eat. The present tense (indefinite) looks like this:

én eszem – I eat
te eszel – you eat (singular)
ő eszik – he / she / it eats
mi eszünk – we eat
ti esztek – you eat (plural)
ők esznek – they eat

In your sentence, the subject is a család (the family), which is 3rd person singular, so the correct form is:

a család … eszik – the family eats

Eszek is 1st person singular (I eat), and esnek is 3rd person plural (they eat), so they wouldn’t fit here.

Why is there no word after eszik, like breakfast? Does eszik alone already imply have a meal?

Yes. When eszik has no object, it generally just means to eat / to have a meal, without specifying what:

Mikor esztek? – When do you eat / When do you have your meal?
Nem eszem este. – I don’t eat in the evening.

So:

… és együtt eszik.
naturally reads as … and they eat together / have a meal together.

If you want to specify what they eat, you add an object:

… és együtt reggelit eszik. – and they eat breakfast together.
… és együtt süteményt eszik. – and they eat cake together.