Learn Hardcore Hungarian: A nő friss zöldséget vesz, és gyümölcslevet készít vacsorához. - The woman buys fresh vegetables and makes fruit juice for dinner.

In Hungarian, when an adjective comes before a noun (an attributive adjective), it usually does not change form for case or number. Only the noun gets the accusative ending.

friss zöldség – fresh vegetable
friss zöldséget – fresh vegetable(s) (as direct object)
piros almát – red apple(s) (as direct object)

So you don’t say frisst zöldséget; friss stays in its base form, and zöldség takes -t: zöldséget.

What is the exact meaning of the verb vesz here? Is it “takes” or “buys”?

The verb vesz literally means “to take”, but in everyday modern Hungarian it very commonly means “to buy” when the context is about shopping.

So in this sentence:

A nő friss zöldséget vesz
is understood as
“The woman is buying fresh vegetables.”

If you needed to emphasize buying in a more formal or unambiguous way, you could say vásárol, but vesz is perfectly natural and common.

Why are zöldséget and gyümölcslevet singular in Hungarian when the English translation uses plurals (“vegetables”, “fruit juice”)?

Hungarian often uses the singular form with an indefinite quantity, where English prefers the plural or a mass noun.

friss zöldséget vesz
literally: she buys fresh vegetable
naturally: she buys fresh vegetables
gyümölcslevet készít
literally: she makes fruit juice (mass noun, no plural in English)

If you really want to emphasize plural in Hungarian, you can say:

friss zöldségeket vesz – still correct, but implies multiple distinct pieces/types of vegetables more explicitly.
In many everyday contexts, the singular zöldséget already implies “vegetables” in general.

Why is the verb form vesz used instead of something like a progressive form “is buying”? Is this present simple or continuous?

Hungarian doesn’t have a separate present continuous form like English (is buying). The present tense covers both:

A nő friss zöldséget vesz.
can mean:
- The woman buys fresh vegetables (regularly).
- The woman is buying fresh vegetables (right now).

Context tells you whether it’s a habitual action or happening right now. The same is true for készít (“makes / is making”).

Why is it vesz and not veszi?

Hungarian has two conjugation types for verbs: indefinite and definite.

Indefinite conjugation is used when the object is:
- not specific, or
- not introduced with a definite article (a / az), or
- absent.
Definite conjugation is used when the object is definite (specific), often with a / az, a demonstrative (ez, az), a proper name, etc.

In our sentence:

friss zöldséget – some fresh vegetables, not a specific known set.
gyümölcslevet – some fruit juice, not a specific known juice.

So verbs are in indefinite conjugation:

vesz – buys (something, in general)
készít – makes (something, in general)

For definite objects, you’d see:

A nő a zöldséget veszi. – The woman is buying the vegetables.
A nő a gyümölcslevet készíti. – The woman is making the fruit juice.

What exactly does gyümölcslevet mean, and why does it have that -t ending?

gyümölcslé is a compound noun:

gyümölcs = fruit
lé = juice / liquid
⇒ gyümölcslé = fruit juice

In the sentence, it’s a direct object, so it also takes the accusative -t:

gyümölcslét in theory, but pronunciation and spelling rules create gyümölcslevet (vowel change: lé → levet in accusative).

So:

gyümölcslé – fruit juice (base form)
gyümölcslevet – fruit juice (as direct object; “some fruit juice”)

What is the meaning of készít, and how is it different from csinál?

Both készít and csinál can be translated as “to make” or “to do”, but:

készít is a bit more formal or neutral and often used for preparing or producing something tangible:
- gyümölcslevet készít – makes / prepares fruit juice
- ebédet készít – prepares lunch
csinál is very general and often more colloquial:
- Mit csinálsz? – What are you doing?
- gyümölcslevet csinál – also possible, but more casual.

In this sentence, készít sounds natural and slightly more “proper”.

What does the ending -hoz in vacsorához mean?

-hoz / -hez / -höz is a case ending that basically means “to / towards / for”.

vacsora = dinner
vacsorához = to/for dinner

In this sentence:

gyümölcslevet készít vacsorához
= she makes fruit juice for dinner.

So vacsorához expresses purpose (“for dinner”).

Could you also say vacsorára instead of vacsorához? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can also say:

gyümölcslevet készít vacsorára

Both vacsorára (with -ra/-re) and vacsorához (with -hoz/-hez/-höz) can mean “for dinner”, and in many contexts they are interchangeable.

Very roughly:

-ra/-re often feels more like “for, to be served at” (towards an event/time).
-hoz/-hez/-höz often feels like “to/for (connected with)”.

In everyday speech, vacsorára might sound a bit more common, but vacsorához is absolutely correct and natural.

Why is there a comma before és in Hungarian, even though in English we might not put one there?

In Hungarian, when two full clauses (each with its own verb) are joined by és (and), you usually do put a comma:

A nő friss zöldséget vesz, és gyümölcslevet készít vacsorához.
Clause 1: A nő friss zöldséget vesz.
Clause 2: (A nő) gyümölcslevet készít vacsorához.

Even though the subject A nő is omitted in the second clause, it’s still understood, and grammatically these are two clauses, so the comma is standard in Hungarian writing.

How flexible is the word order here? Could we move parts of the sentence around?

Hungarian word order is more flexible than English, but it follows information-structure rules (focus, emphasis).

Neutral word order:

A nő friss zöldséget vesz, és gyümölcslevet készít vacsorához.

You can move elements for emphasis:

Friss zöldséget vesz a nő… – Emphasizes fresh vegetables.
Gyümölcslevet készít a nő vacsorához. – Emphasizes fruit juice (and that it’s the woman doing it).

However, you cannot just randomly scramble words; the position before the verb is especially important (focus position). For a beginner, it’s safest to stick with the neutral order as in the given sentence.

How do you pronounce the special consonants in words like nő, gyümölcs, and készít?

Very briefly:

ő in nő – a long, rounded vowel, like a longer version of German ö; no exact English equivalent.
gy in gyümölcs – like the d in “duke” when pronounced softly, or somewhat like the j in “juice”, but softer and more “palatal”.
cs in gyümölcs – like English “ch” in “church”.
sz (not in this sentence, but common) – like English “s”.
s (in készít) – like English “sh” in “she”.

So:

nő ≈ “nöő”
gyümölcs ≈ “dyümölch”
készít ≈ “kaysh-eet” (rough approximation)