Learn Hardcore Hungarian: A tanár szól a diáknak, ha probléma van. - The teacher tells the student if there is a problem.

szól valakinek = to say something to someone, to let them know
- A tanár szól a diáknak. – The teacher lets the student know / tells the student.
mond focuses more on saying specific words or content:
- A tanár mond valamit a diáknak. – The teacher says something to the student.
beszél is more like “talk/speak” (often more continuous or two‑way):
- A tanár beszél a diákkal. – The teacher talks with the student.

So szól valakinek is the natural everyday way to say “tell / notify someone” without stressing the specific content of what is said.

Why is it a diáknak and not a diákot or a diákkal?

A diáknak is the dative case, formed with -nak / -nek, and it usually means “to/for someone”.

a diáknak = to the student / for the student
Hungarian often uses the dative with verbs that in English use “tell someone / write someone / help someone”, etc.

With szól:

szól valakinek = tell someone / speak to someone (inform them)

If you changed the ending:

a diákot (accusative, direct object) – would imply szólni a diákot, which is not idiomatic; szól doesn’t normally take a direct object like that.
a diákkal (instrumental, “with the student”) – beszél a diákkal is fine (talk with the student), but szól a diákkal is not used.

So the pattern you need to learn is:
szól valakinek = tell / inform someone (literally: say to someone).

Why is it present tense (szól, van) if we mean “if there is a problem (in the future), the teacher will tell the student”?

Hungarian very often uses the present tense where English uses “will” for:

general truths
repeated / habitual actions
if-clauses (conditions)

So:

A tanár szól a diáknak, ha probléma van.
Literally: The teacher tells the student if there is a problem.
In natural English: “The teacher will tell the student if there’s a problem.”

You could also say:

A tanár szólni fog a diáknak, ha probléma lesz. – The teacher will tell the student if there will be a problem.

But this is heavier and often unnecessary. The simple present is the default for this kind of conditional sentence in Hungarian.

Why is it ha probléma van and not ha van probléma? Is there a difference?

Both are grammatically correct:

ha probléma van
ha van probléma

The difference is mostly about emphasis and style, and it’s quite subtle:

ha probléma van is the more neutral, common wording in this type of conditional sentence. It’s like saying “if there is a problem”.
ha van probléma puts a tiny bit more emphasis on “there being a problem” (the existence), a bit like “if there is a problem (at all)”.

For everyday use, you can treat them as practically interchangeable, but ha probléma van is the more typical phrasing in this exact pattern.

Why is there no article before probléma? Why not ha egy probléma van?

Hungarian often omits the indefinite article (egy) in existential sentences (sentences like “there is/there are…”):

Ha probléma van – If there is a problem.
Van kérdés? – (Is there) any question?

Using egy is possible but changes the feel:

Ha egy probléma van – literally “If there is a problem”, but this sounds odd / too specific here, as if we’re talking about one particular problem in contrast with other things.

In conditionals like this, when you just mean “if there is a problem” in general, you normally say ha probléma van, without egy.

Could we say ha problémája van instead of ha probléma van? What’s the difference?

Yes, but it changes the meaning:

ha probléma van
= “if there is a problem” (in general, somewhere, with something or someone)
ha problémája van
= “if he/she has a problem” (the problem belongs to a specific person)

problémája = his/her problem (probléma + -ja = “his/her” suffix)

So:

A tanár szól a diáknak, ha probléma van.
The teacher tells the student if there is a problem (e.g. any problem in the class).
A tanár szól a diáknak, ha problémája van.
The teacher tells the student if the student has a problem (personal problem, difficulty, etc.).

Both are correct, but they talk about different kinds of “problem”.

Who is the subject of van in ha probléma van? There is no word for “there” like in English.

In ha probléma van, the subject is actually “probléma”.

probléma – noun, subject
van – verb “to be” in 3rd person singular

Hungarian does not use a dummy word like English “there” in “there is/are”. Instead, the noun itself is the subject:

Probléma van. – Literally: Problem is. → There is a problem.
Ha probléma van, szól a tanár. – If there is a problem, the teacher tells (them).

So nothing is “missing”; it’s just that Hungarian doesn’t need a separate word like “there”.

Can this sentence also mean “teachers tell students if there is a problem” in general, or is it only about one specific teacher and one student?

Grammatically, it is singular:

A tanár – the teacher
a diáknak – to the student

But Hungarian often uses the singular with a definite article for general statements, especially about roles like “the teacher”, “the doctor”, etc.

So:

A tanár szól a diáknak, ha probléma van.
Can be understood as:
- specific: “The teacher tells the student if there’s a problem.”
- generic: “(In general) The teacher tells the student if there’s a problem.”

If you want to make the plural/generic reading explicit, you can say:

A tanárok szólnak a diákoknak, ha probléma van.
– Teachers tell students if there is a problem.

Is the comma before ha necessary in A tanár szól a diáknak, ha probléma van?

Yes, in standard Hungarian you usually put a comma before a clause introduced by ha.

A tanár szól a diáknak, ha probléma van.
Main clause: A tanár szól a diáknak
Subordinate clause: ha probléma van

You could also switch the order:

Ha probléma van, a tanár szól a diáknak.

In both orders, a comma is used to separate the two clauses. This is normal punctuation with conditional clauses.

Can I start the sentence with Ha probléma van instead? Does the meaning change?

Yes, you can, and the meaning does not really change:

A tanár szól a diáknak, ha probléma van.
Ha probléma van, a tanár szól a diáknak.

Both mean: “The teacher tells the student if there is a problem.”

Differences:

Starting with Ha probléma van puts a bit more focus on the condition (the “if” part).
Both orders are very natural; Hungarian word order is quite flexible with main clause + conditional clause pairs like this.

Could we use amikor instead of ha here? What’s the difference between ha and amikor?

You could say:

A tanár szól a diáknak, amikor probléma van.

But there is a nuance:

ha = if (condition; it may or may not happen)
amikor = when / whenever (time; referring to occasions when something does happen)

So:

A tanár szól a diáknak, ha probléma van.
– The teacher tells the student if there is a problem (conditional).
A tanár szól a diáknak, amikor probléma van.
– The teacher tells the student when(ever) there is a problem (more like describing what regularly happens in those situations).

In everyday speech, they may overlap, but ha keeps the idea of a condition, while amikor highlights time/occasion.