Learn Hardcore Hungarian: Este a strand üres, de a szállodai étterem tele vendégekkel. - In the evening the beach is empty, but the hotel restaurant is full of guests.

it’s about existence / location (e.g. A strand a szálloda mellett van. – The beach is next to the hotel.), or
you stress / contrast the verb (e.g. Dehogy üres! Tele van vendégekkel.)

What exactly does este mean here, and why is there no article before it?

Este means “in the evening / at nightfall” as a general time adverb.

It is an adverb of time, not a noun in this sentence.
Because of that, it doesn’t take an article (a / az).

Compare:

Este a strand üres. – In the evening the beach is empty.
A este – ✗ incorrect, because este is not treated as a noun here.

If you used the noun az este (“the evening” as a thing), you’d be talking about the evening itself, not using it as a time phrase:

Az este csendes volt. – The evening was quiet.

Why is the word order “Este a strand üres” and not “A strand este üres”? Are both possible?

Both are grammatically correct, but the focus and what feels “neutral” changes.

Este a strand üres.
- Topic: este (the time)
- Natural translation: In the evening, the beach is empty.
- This is like setting the time frame first; it answers “What is the beach like in the evening?”
A strand este üres.
- Topic: a strand (the beach)
- Natural translation: The beach is empty in the evening.
- Slightly more about the beach itself, then you specify when.

In normal speech both sound fine. If you imagine you are contrasting different times, Este a strand üres, nappal viszont tele. (In the evening the beach is empty, but during the day it’s full.) putting este first is very natural.

Why do we say a strand and a szállodai étterem with the definite article a?

Hungarian uses the definite article a / az similarly to English “the”:

a strand – the beach
a szállodai étterem – the hotel restaurant

In this sentence, we are talking about:

a specific beach (the one near the hotel, for example), and
a specific hotel restaurant (the one belonging to that hotel).

That’s why we use the definite article:

Este a strand üres, de a szállodai étterem tele vendégekkel.
In the evening, the beach is empty, but the hotel restaurant is full of guests.

What does strand mean in Hungarian? Is it exactly “beach”?

Strand in Hungarian usually means:

an outdoor swimming area, often with:
- pools,
- sunbathing areas,
- sometimes lake/river access.

It can be:

a lakeside beach,
a riverside beach,
or a bathing complex with pools.

On a sea coast, strand often does mean “beach” in the usual English sense. In a city with pools, strand may be more like “outdoor pool complex.”

So translation depends on context:

tengerparti strand – seaside beach
városi strand – outdoor pool / lido type place.

What does szállodai mean, and how is it formed?

Szállodai means “hotel-” as an adjective, like “hotel (something)”.

It is formed from:

szálloda – hotel (noun)
-i suffix – turns a noun into an adjective meaning “related to / belonging to”

So:

szálloda → szállodai – hotel, hotel-related
szállodai étterem – hotel restaurant (the restaurant of the hotel)

Other examples with -i:

város → városi – urban / city-
iskola → iskolai – school (adj.), e.g. iskolai táska – school bag

Why is it szállodai étterem and not something like szálloda étterem?

Hungarian prefers to use the -i adjective form when one noun describes another in this way:

✗ szálloda étterem – sounds incorrect/unnatural
✓ szállodai étterem – hotel restaurant, natural

You could also say:

a szálloda étterme – the hotel’s restaurant (more like “the restaurant of the hotel”),
but that changes the structure:
- a szállodai étterem – any restaurant that is a hotel restaurant
- a szálloda étterme – that particular hotel’s own restaurant

How does tele vendégekkel work? Literally it looks like “full with guests”.

You’re reading it correctly; the structure is:

tele – full (adjective)
vendégekkel – with guests (noun in -val/-vel case, “with”)

So:

tele vendégekkel ≈ full (with) guests / full of guests

In a full sentence:

A szállodai étterem tele vendégekkel.
Literally: The hotel restaurant [is] full with guests.
Natural: The hotel restaurant is full of guests.

The pattern tele + [noun]-val/-vel is very common:

tele emberekkel – full of people
tele gyerekekkel – full of children
tele cuccokkal – full of stuff

What is the ending -kkel in vendégekkel, and why is it -kkel and not -vel?

Basic rule:

The -val / -vel ending means “with”.
After a word ending in a consonant, Hungarian:
1. doubles the final consonant, and
2. uses -al / -el instead of -val/-vel.

For vendég (guest):

Make it plural: vendég → vendégek (guests).
Add -vel, applying the rule:
- vendégek + vel
- final consonant = k, so it doubles and the vowel shortens:
- vendékekkel → spelled vendégekkel (regular vowel/vowel harmony spelling)

Result: vendégekkel – with guests.

More examples:

kéz + -vel → kézzel – with (the) hand
híd + -val → híddal – with the bridge
gyerek + -vel → gyerekkel – with a child / with the child

Why is vendégekkel plural? Could we also say vendéggel?

Both forms can appear, but they feel slightly different:

vendégekkel – with guests (clearly plural, several guests)
vendéggel – literally with a guest / with the guest, but in some idiomatic expressions with tele van people may use the singular as a kind of mass/plural sense.

In your sentence:

A szállodai étterem tele vendégekkel.
- Emphasises there are many guests.

If you said:

A szállodai étterem tele vendéggel.
- It can sound a bit less natural here; the plural is usually preferred when you imagine a place packed with people.

Why doesn’t üres change its form to agree with strand?

Hungarian adjectives do not agree in gender or number with the noun in predicative position (after “is”).

Pattern:

[Noun] [is] [adjective].
In Hungarian, the adjective stays in its basic form.

So:

A strand üres. – The beach is empty.
Az éttermek üresek. – The restaurants are empty. (here the verb shows plural, adjectives can take -k only in this specific predication-with-explicit-verb pattern)

In your sentence:

No explicit verb van (omitted in present), so we just have:
- a strand üres – the beach [is] empty
- a szállodai étterem tele – the hotel restaurant [is] full

The adjectives üres and tele remain unchanged in form.

What does de mean, and is the comma before it necessary?

De means “but”.

It introduces a contrast between the two clauses.

In written Hungarian, you normally do put a comma before conjunctions like de:

Este a strand üres, de a szállodai étterem tele vendégekkel.

So:

de = but
comma before de = correct and standard punctuation.

Could I say Este üres a strand instead of Este a strand üres?

Yes, you can, and it is also correct. The difference is small and mostly about what you want to highlight.

Este a strand üres.
- Topic: este (time).
- Neutral: In the evening, the beach is empty.
Este üres a strand.
- Topic: still este, but by putting üres earlier, you can slightly emphasise the state (“empty”).
- Feels a bit closer to: In the evening, it’s empty, the beach.

In everyday spoken Hungarian, Este a strand üres is the more neutral choice, but both are understandable and acceptable.

Is “a szállodai étterem tele vendégekkel” a complete sentence by itself?

Yes, it can function as a complete sentence in context:

A szállodai étterem tele vendégekkel.

In Hungarian:

The subject: a szállodai étterem (the hotel restaurant)
The predicate (what it “is”): tele vendégekkel (full of guests)
The verb “is” (van) is understood and omitted in present 3rd person.

So grammatically, this is a full sentence meaning:

The hotel restaurant is full of guests.