Learn Hardcore Hungarian: A szállodai étterem este is nyitva van. - The hotel restaurant is open in the evening too.

a / az = the
- a is used before a word that starts with a consonant: a szálloda, a ház
- az is used before a word that starts with a vowel: az étterem, az ajtó

So A szállodai étterem = “The hotel restaurant”.

Hungarian does have a way to say something like “a / an” (indefinite), but it’s usually shown by no article at all:

Egy étterem = “a/one restaurant” (emphasizing “one”)
Éttermem van. = “I have a restaurant.” (no article)

What does the -i ending in szállodai mean?

The -i ending turns a noun into an adjective meaning “relating to / belonging to / located at” that noun.

szálloda = “hotel”
szállodai = “hotel- (adj.) / of a hotel / in a hotel”

So szállodai étterem literally means “hotel(-type) restaurant” or “the restaurant belonging to / in the hotel”.

Other common examples:

város (city) → városi (urban, city-)
tenger (sea) → tengeri (marine, sea-)
iskola (school) → iskolai (school-, related to school)

Why is there no word for “in” before este? In English we say “in the evening”.

Hungarian often uses a bare time word as an adverb, without a preposition:

reggel = “(in the) morning”
délután = “(in the) afternoon”
este = “(in the) evening”

So este by itself already means “in the evening / at night (in the evening period)”. You don’t say in este or add a case ending here.

You can use -kor with specific clock times:

hétkor = “at seven (o’clock)”
este hétkor = “at seven in the evening”

What exactly does is mean here, and why is it after este?

is is a small particle meaning “too / also / as well / even”. It always attaches to the word immediately before it in terms of meaning and focus.

este is ≈ “in the evening too / also in the evening”
A szállodai étterem este is nyitva van.
→ The restaurant is open also in the evening (in addition to some other time already known or implied).

If you moved is somewhere else, it would attach to a different word and change the focus:

A szállodai étterem is este nyitva van.
→ “The hotel restaurant is also open in the evening” (as opposed to some other restaurant).

So its position is important: it “belongs” to what’s right before it.

Is nyitva a verb? How is it different from nyit?

nyit is the verb “to open” (an action).
nyitva is a state word meaning “open” (as in “open, not closed”).

nyit – action:
- Kinyitom az ajtót. = “I open the door.”
nyitva – state:
- Az ajtó nyitva van. = “The door is open.”

In A szállodai étterem este is nyitva van, we are talking about the restaurant being open (its state), not about the action of opening it.

Why do we need both nyitva and van? Could we just say one of them?

Together, nyitva van means “is open” (state + verb “to be”):

nyitva – “in an open state”
van – “is” (3rd person singular of lenni = “to be”)

So:

Az étterem nyitva van. = “The restaurant is open.”

You sometimes see van dropped in casual speech (Az ajtó nyitva.), but:

nyitva alone is more like a label (“open!” on a sign).
nyitva van is the full sentence “it is open”.

In neutral, complete sentences like this one, nyitva van is the standard form.

Why is the verb van at the end of the sentence? In English it comes right after “restaurant”.

Hungarian word order is much more flexible than English. It’s organized mainly by topic and focus, not by fixed subject–verb–object order.

Neutral structure of this sentence:

Topic (what we’re talking about):
- A szállodai étterem – “the hotel restaurant”
Time / other circumstances before the verb:
- este is – “also in the evening”
Predicate (what is said about the topic):
- nyitva van – “is open”

So we get:
A szállodai étterem / este is / nyitva van.

It is completely normal in Hungarian for van (“is”) to appear near the end, especially when preceded by a verbal particle like nyitva.

Could I say “Este is nyitva van a szállodai étterem” instead? Is that still correct?

Yes, that is also grammatically correct, and it sounds natural.

A szállodai étterem este is nyitva van.
→ Topic is the restaurant; then we specify that it’s open in the evening too.
Este is nyitva van a szállodai étterem.
→ Topic is the time (“as for the evening”), then we tell you about the restaurant.

Both mean essentially the same in this context. The difference is what you present as the starting point of the sentence:

first version: “Regarding the hotel restaurant…”
second version: “Regarding the evening…”

Can we leave out van and just say “A szállodai étterem este is nyitva”?

You might hear that in informal speech, but the standard, neutral form is with van:

A szállodai étterem este is nyitva van. – recommended
A szállodai étterem este is nyitva. – more colloquial / shortened

Without van, the sentence can sound a bit like a headline or sign rather than a full statement. For learners, it’s safer to keep “van” when you say that something is in some state (nyitva van, zárva van, otthon van, itt van, etc.).

What case is este in? I thought Hungarian always uses case endings for time.

Formally, este here has no visible ending; it’s used as a time adverb.

Hungarian time expressions can be:

bare adverbs (no ending): ma, holnap, tegnap, reggel, este
nouns with time suffixes: hétfőn (on Monday), éjjel vs. éjjel-en (older form), hétkor (at seven)

So este in this sentence functions like “in the evening” without needing an extra case ending. That’s why you don’t see something like esten or estekor here (though este hétkor “at seven in the evening” is possible).

How would I say “The hotel restaurant is open only in the evening” or “not open in the evening”? Where do csak and nem go?

You place these words in the pre-verbal area, near este and nyitva, depending on what you want to stress.

“The hotel restaurant is open only in the evening.”
- A szállodai étterem csak este van nyitva.
  → It is open only in the evening, not at other times.
“The hotel restaurant is not open in the evening.”
- A szállodai étterem este nincs nyitva.
  (literally “is not open”)
  Here nincs = nem van (“is not”) fused into one word.

Notice:

csak (“only”) usually comes right before what is limited: csak este.
nincs (or nem) comes in front of the verb phrase: nincs nyitva.