Az orvos a kórházban marad, mert sürgős eset van.

The doctor stays in the hospital because there is an urgent case.

Breakdown of Az orvos a kórházban marad, mert sürgős eset van.

• lenni: to be
• mert: because
• maradni: to stay
• -ban/-ben: in
• sürgős: urgent
• orvos: doctor
• kórház: hospital
• eset: case

Questions & Answers about Az orvos a kórházban marad, mert sürgős eset van.

Why is it Az and not A before orvos?

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article: a and az.
You use az before a word that starts with a vowel sound (here: orvos starts with o), and a before a consonant sound.

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Does Az orvos mean the doctor in general, or a specific doctor?

With the definite article (az), it normally refers to a specific, identifiable doctor in the context (like the doctor you’ve been talking about).
If you wanted a more general meaning like a doctor (some doctor), you’d typically drop the article: Orvos a kórházban marad... (though the context still matters).

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What does a kórházban literally mean, and what is -ban?

kórház = hospital
-ban / -ben is the inessive case meaning in (inside).
So a kórházban = in the hospital.

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Why is it -ban and not -ben?

Hungarian uses vowel harmony. After back vowels (like ó, á, a, o, u), you usually get the back-vowel version -ban.
kórház contains back vowels, so it becomes kórházban.

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Is a kórházban always “in the hospital,” or can it mean “at the hospital” too?

Literally it’s in the hospital (inside the building). In many real contexts, English might say at the hospital, but Hungarian still often uses -ban/-ben to express that general location.

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What form is marad and what does it conjugate for?

marad is the 3rd person singular present tense of maradni (to stay / remain).
It matches az orvos (the doctor): he/she stays.

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Why is there no word for he or she?

Hungarian usually omits subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the person/number.
So marad already tells you it’s he/she/it stays, and az orvos makes the subject clear.

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Is the word order fixed? Could I move things around?

Hungarian word order is flexible and often reflects emphasis.

• Az orvos a kórházban marad... is neutral: the doctor stays in the hospital.
• A kórházban marad az orvos... can emphasize in the hospital (as opposed to somewhere else).
  The meaning stays similar, but the focus changes.

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What does mert do, and where does it go?

mert means because and introduces a reason clause.
It typically comes right at the start of the reason clause: ..., mert ...

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Why is there a comma before mert?

In Hungarian, it’s standard to use a comma before many conjunctions that introduce a full clause, including mert.
So ..., mert sürgős eset van. is normal punctuation.

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What does sürgős eset mean grammatically—why no article?

sürgős = urgent (adjective)
eset = case
Together: urgent case.
No article is needed here; it’s acting like an indefinite noun phrase, similar to English there is an urgent case (not the urgent case, unless it’s already known).

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Why does it end with van? What kind of verb is that?

van is the 3rd person singular present form of lenni (to be).
Hungarian commonly uses van in existence/availability statements: X van = there is X / X exists.
So sürgős eset van = there is an urgent case.

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Could it also be said as mert van sürgős eset?

Yes, mert van sürgős eset is also grammatical and can sound a bit more like explicitly introducing existence (because there is an urgent case).
The version given (mert sürgős eset van) is very natural too; it often places the new/important information (sürgős eset) before the verb.

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How do I pronounce kórházban and sürgős (roughly)?

• kórházban: the long vowels matter: kór- has a long ó, and -ház- has a long á. Roughly: KOR-haaz-ban (with the stress on the first syllable: KÓR...).
• sürgős: ü is like German ü (not an English sound). ő is a long version of ö. Roughly: SHÜR-goesh (stress on SÜR-).