Learn Hardcore Hungarian: Hétfőn hosszú megbeszélés lesz az irodában. - On Monday there will be a long meeting in the office.

You cannot simply say *Hétfő hosszú megbeszélés lesz… if you mean “On Monday there will be…” – you must add -n to make it a proper time adverbial. The same pattern appears with other days: kedden (on Tuesday), szerdán (on Wednesday), etc.

Where is the word “a” in “a long meeting”? Why is there no egy before hosszú megbeszélés?

Hungarian has an indefinite article egy (roughly a/an), but in sentences like this it is often dropped.

Full form: Hétfőn egy hosszú megbeszélés lesz az irodában.
Common shorter form: Hétfőn hosszú megbeszélés lesz az irodában.

Both are correct and both mean “There will be a long meeting…”.
Without egy, the sentence sounds a bit more neutral and matter‑of‑fact. Adding egy can slightly emphasize that it is one particular meeting, but the difference is small in everyday speech.

Why do we use lesz instead of van?

Van is the present‑tense 3rd‑person form of lenni (to be), and lesz is the future‑tense 3rd‑person form.

Hosszú megbeszélés van az irodában.
= There is a long meeting in the office. (present/regular fact)
Hétfőn hosszú megbeszélés lesz az irodában.
= On Monday there will be a long meeting in the office. (future event)

Because we’re talking about a meeting that will take place on Monday (i.e. in the future from now), Hungarian naturally uses lesz.

Could we leave out lesz the way Hungarian sometimes leaves out van?

No, not here. In the future tense, the verb lesz cannot be omitted.

Omitting van only happens in specific present‑tense 3rd‑person sentences (mostly simple “X is Y” type statements, like Péter tanár. – “Peter is a teacher”). But with:

a future meaning, or
a location/time expression like az irodában, hétfőn,

you must keep lesz (or van in the present):

Az irodában hosszú megbeszélés van. – present
Az irodában hosszú megbeszélés lesz. – future

So *Hétfőn hosszú megbeszélés az irodában. is ungrammatical; you need lesz.

Why do we say az irodában and not just irodában?

Az irodában means “in the office” (a specific office). The az is the definite article (“the”).

az iroda = the office
az irodában = in the office

If you drop the article and say irodában, it usually sounds like “in an office” (not specified which one) and is most natural in certain patterns like job descriptions:

Irodában dolgozom. – I work (in) an office.

In your sentence we are talking about some known or context‑specific office (for example, our office), so az irodában is the natural form.

Why is it az irodában and not a irodában?

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

a before consonant sounds: a könyv, a fal
az before vowel sounds: az iroda, az épület

Since iroda starts with a vowel sound (i), you must use az:

az iroda → az irodában (in the office)

Using *a irodában would sound wrong to a native speaker.

What does the ending -ban / -ben in irodában mean?

The ending -ban / -ben is the inessive case, and it generally means “in” (inside something).

iroda = office
irodában = in the office

Which form you choose depends on vowel harmony:

Words with back vowels (a, á, o, ó, u, ú) take -ban:
- szoba → szobában (in the room)
Words with front vowels (e, é, i, í, ö, ő, ü, ű) usually take -ben or, if mixed, the form that fits them best.
Iroda is a mixed‑vowel word; in standard usage it takes -ban: irodában.

So az irodában literally is “in the office”.

Why is hosszú before megbeszélés? Could we say A megbeszélés hosszú lesz instead?

Yes, you can say both, but they are different structures:

Hosszú megbeszélés lesz az irodában.
- hosszú megbeszélés = “long meeting” (adjective + noun as one phrase)
- This introduces a meeting and tells us something about what kind of meeting it is.
A megbeszélés hosszú lesz az irodában.
- A megbeszélés = “the meeting” (definite, known meeting)
- hosszú lesz is the predicate: “will be long”.

So:

hosszú megbeszélés = “a long meeting” (like English “a long meeting”)
A megbeszélés hosszú lesz. = “The meeting will be long.”

In Hungarian, attributive adjectives (describing the noun) normally go before the noun: hosszú megbeszélés, nagy ház, piros autó.

Can we change the word order, for example put az irodában first or move hétfőn to the end?

Yes, Hungarian word order is quite flexible, and different orders change the emphasis rather than the basic meaning.

Your sentence:

Hétfőn hosszú megbeszélés lesz az irodában.
Neutral reading: time (Monday) is presented first, then the event, then the place.

Other possible versions:

Az irodában hétfőn hosszú megbeszélés lesz.
Slightly more emphasis on the office (talking about what will happen there).
Hosszú megbeszélés lesz hétfőn az irodában.
More neutral “there will be a long meeting, on Monday, in the office”.

In general, Hungarian tends to order information roughly as time – (manner) – place – verb – rest, but the key rule is: the focus (the most strongly emphasized element) usually stands immediately before the verb. In your sentence, there is no special focus marked; it’s a neutral statement about Monday.

How would the sentence change if there were several meetings instead of just one?

You would make megbeszélés plural and change lesz to match:

Hétfőn hosszú megbeszélések lesznek az irodában.
= On Monday there will be long meetings in the office.

Here:

megbeszélés → megbeszélések (plural noun)
lesz → lesznek (3rd‑person plural of lesz)

The rest of the structure stays the same.