Learn Hardcore Hungarian: A parkban egy lassú férfi sétál, mellette egy gyors nő fut. - In the park a slow man is walking, next to him a fast woman is running.

Nouns with back vowels (a, á, o, ó, u, ú) take -ban
- park → parkban
- ház (house) → házban
Nouns with front vowels (e, é, i, í, ö, ő, ü, ű) take -ben
- kert (garden) → kertben
- híd (bridge) → hídban (exception, but pronunciation is still front)

Since park has a (a back vowel), you get parkban.

What does egy mean here? Is it “one” or “a/an”? Can I leave it out?

egy does double duty:

It’s the number one.
It’s also the indefinite article: a / an.

In this sentence:

egy lassú férfi = a slow man
egy gyors nő = a fast woman

You can leave egy out:

A parkban lassú férfi sétál, mellette gyors nő fut.

That’s still grammatical, but:

With egy, it sounds more like “a particular man/woman”.
Without egy, it can feel a bit more generic or matter-of-fact.

In everyday speech, keeping egy here is very natural.

Why is there no word like “he” or “she”? Why just férfi sétál and nő fut?

Hungarian usually drops subject pronouns when the verb ending already shows the person and number.

sétál = (he / she / it) walks / is walking
fut = (he / she / it) runs / is running

Because we have férfi (man) and nő (woman) right before the verbs, there is no need for ő (he/she).

You could say Ő sétál or Ő fut, but that’s used mainly when:

you want to emphasize the person (e.g. He is the one who’s walking), or
the subject is only a pronoun, without a noun.

In this sentence, férfi and nő already serve as the clear subjects.

What exactly does mellette mean, and what is it referring to?

mellette is built from:

mellett = next to / beside
-e = 3rd person singular possessive ending (here: him / her / it)

So:

mellette literally = “next-to-him/her/it”

In the sentence:

A parkban egy lassú férfi sétál, mellette egy gyors nő fut.

mellette refers back to egy lassú férfi (the man):

mellette egy gyors nő fut = “next to him, a fast woman is running.”

Context tells us it’s him (the man) and not her or it.

Can I say A férfi mellett egy gyors nő fut instead of mellette egy gyors nő fut?

Yes, you can:

A férfi mellett egy gyors nő fut.
= “Next to the man, a fast woman is running.”

Differences:

A férfi mellett explicitly repeats the man, more like English.
mellette is more compact and avoids repetition: “next to him”.

Both are correct. The original mellette sounds a bit more natural and less repetitive in Hungarian.

Why are the adjectives lassú and gyors in front of the nouns, and do they change form?

Attributive adjectives in Hungarian generally come before the noun:

lassú férfi = slow man
gyors nő = fast woman

Unlike in many European languages, adjectives do not agree in gender or number with the noun:

singular: lassú férfi, gyors nő
plural: lassú férfiak, gyors nők (the plural ending is on the noun, not the adjective)
in the park: a parkban egy lassú férfi, a parkban lassú férfiak

So lassú and gyors keep the same form; only the noun changes.

What’s the difference between lassú and lassan, or gyors and gyorsan?

lassú and gyors are adjectives (describing nouns):
- lassú férfi = a slow man
- gyors nő = a fast woman
lassan and gyorsan are adverbs (describing verbs):
- A férfi lassan sétál. = The man walks slowly.
- A nő gyorsan fut. = The woman runs quickly.

In your sentence, the adjectives modify nouns, so lassú férfi, gyors nő are correct, not *lassan férfi or *gyorsan nő.

Why is the word order “A parkban egy lassú férfi sétál” and not something like “Egy lassú férfi sétál a parkban”?

Both word orders are grammatical, but they have slightly different information structure:

A parkban egy lassú férfi sétál.
- Topic: A parkban = As for in the park…
- New information: egy lassú férfi sétál
- Focus on what is happening in the park.
Egy lassú férfi sétál a parkban.
- Topic: Egy lassú férfi = As for a slow man…
- New information: sétál a parkban
- Focus on where the slow man is walking.

Hungarian word order is flexible, but it is used to show what is known (topic) and what is emphasized/new (focus), rather than strict SVO like English.

Why is the verb just sétál / fut and not something like “is walking / is running”? Does Hungarian have a present continuous tense?

Hungarian has only one present tense form in most cases, and it often covers both:

sétál = walks / is walking
fut = runs / is running

Context decides whether it’s interpreted as a general statement or an ongoing action. Here, the picture-like context suggests:

A slow man is walking, next to him a fast woman is running.

If you really want to emphasize an ongoing action, you can add adverbs or extra context, but you don’t change the verb form.

Why is there just a comma between the two parts, and no és (“and”)?

Hungarian can connect closely related clauses simply with a comma, especially in descriptions:

A parkban egy lassú férfi sétál, mellette egy gyors nő fut.

This is very natural: it feels like listing two simultaneous actions in one scene.

You could add és:

A parkban egy lassú férfi sétál, és mellette egy gyors nő fut.

This is also correct, but slightly heavier stylistically. The original with just a comma is more compact and common in descriptive sentences.

Does mellette tell me whether it’s “next to him” or “next to her”? How does gender work here?

mellette itself is gender-neutral:

mellette = next to him / her / it

Hungarian does not mark gender on pronouns or verbs:

ő = he / she
sétál = (he / she / it) walks

In the sentence, we know it’s “next to him” only because the previous subject is egy lassú férfi (a man). If the previous subject were egy gyors nő, mellette would then be understood as “next to her”.

Context, not grammar, gives you the gender.

Could I say “A parkban egy lassú férfi sétál, és mellette egy gyors nő fut” or “A parkban egy lassú férfi sétál, mellette egy gyors nő fut a parkban”?

With “és”:
- A parkban egy lassú férfi sétál, és mellette egy gyors nő fut.
  This is fully correct. Adding és makes the coordination more explicit:
  In the park, a slow man is walking, and next to him a fast woman is running.
Repeating “a parkban”:
- A parkban egy lassú férfi sétál, mellette egy gyors nő fut a parkban.
  This is grammatical but sounds a bit redundant, because A parkban clearly applies to both actions already. Usually you don’t repeat it unless you have some special emphasis or contrast in mind.

The original sentence is already clear and natural without repeating a parkban or adding és.