Learn Hardcore Hungarian: A konyha délután világos a jó fény miatt. - The kitchen is bright in the afternoon because of the good light.

A – the (definite article, singular)
konyha – kitchen
délután – afternoon / in the afternoon (used adverbially here: a time expression)
világos – bright, light (adjective “is bright” / “is light” in this context)
a – the (again, definite article)
jó – good
fény – light (as a noun)
miatt – because of, due to (postposition)

Roughly: “The kitchen afternoon bright the good light because-of.”
Natural English: “The kitchen is bright in the afternoon because of the good light.”

Why is there no van (“to be”) in this sentence?

In Hungarian, in the present tense, 3rd person, the verb lenni (“to be”) is usually omitted in simple sentences where you just describe what something is.

A konyha világos. – literally “The kitchen bright.” = “The kitchen is bright.”
You could say A konyha világos van, but that sounds marked/odd; it’s used only in special emphatic or contrastive cases.

So:

A konyha délután világos a jó fény miatt.
means “The kitchen is bright in the afternoon because of the good light,” even though van isn’t written.

You do use forms of lenni:

in the past: A konyha világos volt. – “The kitchen was bright.”
in the future: A konyha világos lesz. – “The kitchen will be bright.”
with certain structures (location, existence, emphasis, etc.).

Why does konyha have the article A? Could I leave it out?

A is the definite article (“the”). Hungarian uses definite articles in many situations where English might use the or sometimes even no article.

A konyha – “the kitchen”

Here, we’re talking about a specific kitchen, presumably known from context (e.g. the kitchen in your apartment/house), so a is natural.

If you said Konyha délután világos, without the article, it would sound either:

like a title or label (e.g. on a diagram: “Kitchen: bright in the afternoon”), or
somewhat ungrammatical/odd in normal speech.

So in standard sentences about a specific place, you generally keep the article:

A szoba kicsi. – The room is small.
A kert szép. – The garden is beautiful.

Why does jó fény also have the article a? Is it also definite?

Yes. A jó fény literally means “the good light.”

a – the
jó – good
fény – light

Using a here suggests a particular light situation that is understood from context: for example, the natural daylight that comes in in the afternoon, or the way the sun shines through a certain window.

Compare:

a jó fény miatt – because of the good light (specific, known kind of light)
jó fény miatt – because of good light (more generic; possible, but sounds less natural here)

In practice, Hungarian tends to use the article with a phrase like this, much like English often says “because of the good light” rather than just “because of good light,” if you’re talking about a particular situation.

What exactly is délután here? Is it a noun or an adverb? Why no article or preposition?

Délután is originally a noun (“afternoon”), but in sentences like this it functions as a time adverbial, roughly “in the afternoon.”

Hungarian often uses bare time words without an article or preposition:

tegnap – yesterday
ma – today
holnap – tomorrow
reggel – (in the) morning
este – (in the) evening
délután – (in the) afternoon

So:

A konyha délután világos.
literally “The kitchen afternoon bright.” = “The kitchen is bright in the afternoon.”

You don’t say a délután here, because you’re not talking about a specific afternoon as an object; you’re using délután as a general time expression.

Why is the word order A konyha délután világos a jó fény miatt? Can I move the words around?

Hungarian word order is quite flexible, but it’s not random; it reflects what is topic, what is new information, and what is emphasized.

In A konyha délután világos a jó fény miatt:

A konyha – topic (what we’re talking about): “As for the kitchen…”
délután – time setting (“in the afternoon”)
világos – main statement about the topic (“is bright”)
a jó fény miatt – reason (“because of the good light”)

Natural alternatives:

Délután a konyha világos a jó fény miatt.
“In the afternoon, the kitchen is bright because of the good light.”
– here the time is slightly more prominent.
A konyha a jó fény miatt délután világos.
– possible, but feels less neutral; you’re doing more reshuffling, often for emphasis or style.

If you put a jó fény miatt in front of világos and stress it, you can emphasize the reason:

A konyha délután A JÓ FÉNY MIATT világos.
“It’s because of the good light that the kitchen is bright in the afternoon.”

So yes, you can move elements, but:

the topic usually comes first,
the most emphasized element typically comes right before the verb (here the verb “to be” is hidden inside világos).

What is miatt, exactly? How is it different from mert (“because”)?

Miatt is a postposition meaning “because of / due to / on account of.”

It comes after the word it governs:
- a jó fény miatt – because of the good light
- eső miatt – because of (the) rain
- betegség miatt – because of illness

Mert, on the other hand, is a conjunction meaning “because” that begins a clause:

A konyha délután világos, mert jó a fény.
“The kitchen is bright in the afternoon because the light is good.”

So:

Use miatt with a noun phrase:
- a forgalom miatt – because of the traffic
Use mert before a full sentence:
- Késik, mert nagy a forgalom. – “He/she is late because the traffic is heavy.”

Why is it jó fény, with the adjective before the noun? Could it ever be fény jó?

The normal, neutral order in Hungarian is:

adjective + noun

So:

jó fény – good light
világos szoba – bright room
nagy ház – big house

You almost always put descriptive adjectives before the noun.

Placing the adjective after the noun is unusual and normally serves special purposes like strong contrast, stylistic effect, or certain fixed phrases. For example:

a fény jó – “the light is good” (here jó is not modifying “fény” directly as a noun phrase; it’s part of a full clause where jó is the predicate).

So inside a noun phrase, you say:

a jó fény miatt – because of the good light

but in a full sentence:

A fény jó. – “The light is good.”

What is the nuance of világos here? How is it different from fényes?

Both világos and fényes relate to light, but they’re used a bit differently.

világos
- “bright, light” in the sense of well-lit / not dark.
- Common with rooms, spaces, colors:
  - világos szoba – bright room
  - világos konyha – bright kitchen
  - világos kék – light blue
fényes
- “shiny, glossy, radiant,” sometimes also very bright.
- Often used for surfaces, objects:
  - fényes cipő – shiny shoes
  - fényes asztal – glossy table
  - fényes jövő – “bright/shining future” (figurative)

In your sentence:

A konyha délután világos a jó fény miatt.
means “The kitchen is bright / well-lit in the afternoon because of the good light.”

If you said fényes, it would sound as if the kitchen itself is shining or glossy, which is not what you mean here.

Why doesn’t délután have any ending, like -ban or -kor?

Hungarian can express time in several ways. For general parts of the day used as time adverbs, the bare form is very common:

Reggel dolgozom. – I work in the morning.
Este pihenek. – I rest in the evening.
Délután sétálok. – I walk in the afternoon.

You could, in other contexts, see:

délutánonként – in the afternoons (habitually)
délután háromkor – at 3 in the afternoon
(here -kor attaches to a clock time, not délután itself)

But for a simple “in the afternoon” as a general time when something happens, the plain délután with no ending is the usual choice.

How would you negate this sentence correctly?

The negation word in Hungarian is nem, and it typically comes before the predicate (before the verb or, if the copula is omitted, before the adjective acting as the predicate).

Affirmative:

A konyha délután világos a jó fény miatt.
“The kitchen is bright in the afternoon because of the good light.”

Negated version (most natural):

A konyha délután nem világos a rossz fény miatt.
“The kitchen is not bright in the afternoon because of the bad light.”

Key points:

nem goes before világos:
- nem világos – is not bright
You can also keep the same reason and just negate the statement:
- A konyha délután nem világos, pedig jó a fény.
  “The kitchen is not bright in the afternoon, even though the light is good.”

Could I leave out jó and just say a fény miatt? Would that change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

A konyha délután világos a fény miatt.

This means “The kitchen is bright in the afternoon because of the light.”

The difference:

a fény miatt – neutral: because of the (somewhat unspecified) light
a jó fény miatt – emphasizes that the light is good (strong, pleasant)

By including jó, you’re making it clear that the quality of the light is what causes the kitchen to be bright. Without jó, the sentence is still correct, just slightly less descriptive.