Learn Hardcore Hungarian: A vendég kér egy kulcsot a szobához a recepción. - The guest asks for a key to the room at the reception.

Why do we have both a and egy in the sentence (A vendég kér egy kulcsot a szobához a recepción)? In English there is only the and a/an.

Hungarian also has definite and indefinite articles:

a / az = the (definite)
egy = a / an (indefinite)

In the sentence:

A vendég = The guest (a specific guest)
egy kulcsot = a key (not a specific, known key, just any suitable key)
a szobához = to the room (a specific room)
a recepción = at the reception (the hotel’s reception desk, understood as specific)

So you can mix them in one sentence: some things are specific (the guest, the room, the reception), others are not (a key).

If you made the key definite, you would say:

A vendég kéri a kulcsot a szobához a recepción.
= The guest asks for the key to the room at reception. (A particular, already-known key.)

Why is it kulcsot and not just kulcs?

Kulcsot is kulcs in the accusative case (direct object form).

Base (dictionary) form: kulcs = key
Accusative singular (indefinite): kulcsot

Hungarian marks the direct object with -t, often with a linking vowel:

kulcs → kulcsot
könyv → könyvet (book → book as object)
asztal → asztalt (table → table as object)

The verb kér (to ask for, to request) takes a direct object, so kulcs must be in the accusative:

A vendég kér egy kulcsot. = The guest asks for a key.
(Saying *kér egy kulcs is ungrammatical.)*

What exactly does -hoz mean in szobához, and why is it szoba → szobához?

The suffix -hoz / -hez / -höz usually means to / toward something. It is a directional case ending.

szoba = room
szobához = to the room / for the room / belonging to the room (depending on context)

The final a of szoba becomes á before -hoz for vowel harmony and pronunciation reasons:

szoba → szobához
ház (house) → házhoz
kert (garden) → kerthez
külön (separate) → különhöz

In this sentence, egy kulcsot a szobához is literally “a key to the room,” which matches the English idea of “a key for the room.”

Could I just say egy szobakulcsot instead of egy kulcsot a szobához?

Yes, that is possible and natural:

A vendég kér egy szobakulcsot a recepción.
= The guest asks for a room key at reception.

The difference in nuance:

egy kulcsot a szobához = a key to the room
(more like “a key that belongs to / goes with that room”)
egy szobakulcsot = a room key (compound noun, shorter)

Both are correct; szobakulcs is a common compound, but kulcs a szobához is also completely normal.

Why is it szobához and not something like szobáért or szobának?

Because the idea is “a key to the room”, and -hoz expresses that “to / for / belonging to” relationship.

szobához: to the room (a key that goes to that room)
szobáért: for the room in the sense of “for the sake of / in exchange for” (not used for keys)
szobának: dative, “to/for the room” as an indirect object (not how you express “key to a room”)

So:

egy kulcsot a szobához = a key to the room (correct, idiomatic)
egy kulcsot a szobáért / szobának – not used in this meaning.

What is the difference between kér and kérdez? Both are often translated as “ask”.

They correspond to two different English uses of ask:

kér = to ask for / request something
- A vendég kulcsot kér. = The guest asks for a key.
- Pénzt kér. = He asks for money.
kérdez = to ask (a question)
- A vendég kérdez valamit. = The guest asks a question.
- Megkérdezi, hány óra van. = He asks what time it is.

In A vendég kér egy kulcsot a szobához a recepción, the guest is asking for something, so kér is the correct verb.

Why is the word order A vendég kér egy kulcsot a szobához a recepción? Could I move a recepción earlier?

Hungarian word order is flexible, but there is a preferred neutral order: topic → verb → object(s) → other information.

The original:

A vendég (topic: what we’re talking about)
kér (verb)
egy kulcsot a szobához (object + related detail)
a recepción (place)

You can change the order to emphasize different parts:

A vendég a recepción kér egy kulcsot a szobához.
(Emphasis a bit more on where he is asking.)
A recepción a vendég kér egy kulcsot a szobához.
(Contrastive: at reception, it is the guest who is asking, maybe not someone else.)

All of these can be correct, but the neutral, most typical version is very close to what you already have.

What exactly is a recepción? Why does it end in -n?

The base noun is recepció = reception (reception desk in a hotel, etc).

Adding -n gives the superessive case, usually translated as on / at:

asztal (table) → asztalon = on the table
piac (market) → piacon = at the market
recepció → recepción = at the reception (desk / area)

So a recepción = at the reception (understood as at the reception desk).

With places, -n often corresponds to English at.

Would a recepcióban or a recepcióhoz also work instead of a recepción?

They would sound odd or wrong in this context:

a recepcióban = in the reception (inside some “reception room” as a physical space) – rarely used that way.
a recepcióhoz = to the reception (movement toward it) – you’d use this with a motion verb:
- A vendég a recepcióhoz megy. = The guest goes to reception.

For “at reception” as a location of the action (asks at reception), a recepción (superessive) is the natural form.

Why is it A vendég and not Az vendég?

Hungarian has two definite articles:

a before words starting with a consonant: a vendég, a kulcs
az before words starting with a vowel sound: az ablak, az iskola

Since vendég starts with v (a consonant), we use a:

A vendég = The guest
If the noun started with a vowel, you’d use az:
Az utas kér egy kulcsot. = The passenger asks for a key.

How would I say “The guests ask for a key to the room at reception” in Hungarian?

You need to make vendég plural and adjust the verb:

A vendégek kérnek egy kulcsot a szobához a recepción.

Notes:

vendég → vendégek (plural)
The verb takes the indefinite plural form: kérnek (because egy kulcsot is indefinite)

If they each ask for a separate key, this is fine. If you want to be clearer you could also say:

A vendégek kulcsot kérnek a szobához a recepción.
(plural subject, unspecified number of keys – context decides.)

Can I leave out egy and just say A vendég kér kulcsot a szobához a recepción?

Yes, you can omit egy here:

A vendég kér kulcsot a szobához a recepción.

This is still grammatical. The nuance:

kér egy kulcsot – suggests “a / one key” (a single key) more clearly.
kér kulcsot – more general “asks for key(s)”; number is less explicit and sounds slightly more formal or telegraphic.

In everyday speech, kér egy kulcsot is more common and natural if you mean “a key.”

How do I say “The guest asked for a key to the room at reception” (past tense)?

Use the past tense of kér, which is kért:

A vendég kért egy kulcsot a szobához a recepción.

Structure stays the same; only the verb changes:

kér (asks) → kért (asked)

How do you pronounce some of these words, especially sz, cs, and á?

Key points:

sz = like English s in see
- szoba ≈ soh-bah
s alone = like English sh in she (not in this sentence, but important to know)
cs = like English ch in church
- kulcs ≈ kulch
Long vowels:
- á is a long a, roughly like the a in British car, but a bit tenser and longer:
  - szobához ≈ soh-bah-hoz
é is a long e, similar to ay in say:
- vendég ≈ ven-dayg

Putting it together roughly:

A vendég kér egy kulcsot a szobához a recepción.
≈ [A VEN-dayg kayr edj KUL-chot o SOH-bah-hoz o REH-tsehp-tsyón] (very approximate, just for English ears).