A gyógyszertár a posta után balra van, a piac pedig jobbra.

The pharmacy is on the left after the post office, and the market is on the right.

Breakdown of A gyógyszertár a posta után balra van, a piac pedig jobbra.

• lenni: to be
• pedig: however
• után: after
• posta: the post office
• gyógyszertár: the pharmacy
• piac: the market
• balra: left
• jobbra: right

Questions & Answers about A gyógyszertár a posta után balra van, a piac pedig jobbra.

What does a mean in a gyógyszertár, a posta, and a piac?

A is the Hungarian definite article, so it means the.

• a gyógyszertár = the pharmacy
• a posta = the post office
• a piac = the market

Hungarian uses the definite article very often, much like English.

Why is után placed after posta instead of before it?

Because után is a postposition, not a preposition.

In English, we say after the post office, with after before the noun.
In Hungarian, the equivalent word comes after the noun:

• a posta után = after/past the post office

This is very common in Hungarian. Many words that correspond to English prepositions come after the noun instead.

Does után here mean after in time or after/past in space?

It can mean both in different contexts, but here it is spatial.

So in this sentence:

• a posta után means after/past the post office in the route or sequence of places

In another sentence, után could be temporal:

• ebéd után = after lunch

So the meaning depends on context.

Why do balra and jobbra end in -ra?

The ending -ra/-re is a suffix that often has the idea of onto / to / toward. With direction words like bal and jobb, it forms common expressions for direction:

• balra = to the left / on the left
• jobbra = to the right / on the right

In directions and route descriptions, Hungarian often uses these forms where English might use either to the left/right or on the left/right.

So even though -ra often looks directional, in this kind of sentence it is just the normal way to say where something is in relation to the route.

Why is it jobbra, with two b letters?

Because it comes from jobb + -ra.

• jobb = right
• jobbra = to the right / on the right

The spelling keeps the b from jobb, so you get jobbra. This is normal Hungarian spelling when suffixes are added.

Why is there van in the first clause, but not in the second?

Hungarian often leaves out repeated words if they are easy to understand from context.

The first clause says:

• A gyógyszertár a posta után balra van.

The second clause is:

• a piac pedig jobbra

This is short for:

• a piac pedig jobbra van

So the second van is omitted because it would just repeat the same idea. This is very natural in Hungarian.

What does van mean here?

Van is the 3rd person singular form of to be, so here it means is.

• balra van = is on the left
• jobbra van = is on the right

Hungarian uses van in this kind of location sentence.

What does pedig mean in this sentence?

Pedig is a connector that often adds contrast or sets up a parallel statement. In this sentence, it is something like:

• and
• while
• whereas
• as for ...

So:

• a piac pedig jobbra means roughly and the market is on the right or while the market is on the right

It is not a perfect one-word match with English and. It often gives a slight contrast: one thing is on the left, whereas the other is on the right.

Why is the word order a posta után balra van and not something else?

Hungarian word order is more flexible than English word order, and it often depends on what is being presented as known information, new information, or contrast.

In this sentence:

• A gyógyszertár is the topic: we are talking about the pharmacy.
• a posta után gives the reference point: after the post office.
• balra gives the key location.
• van finishes the statement.

So the order is very natural for giving directions. A different order might still be possible, but it could sound more marked or put emphasis in a different place.

Is balra van literally is to the left or is on the left?

It can correspond to either one in English, depending on context.

In route descriptions, balra van and jobbra van are commonly translated as:

• is on the left / right
• is to the left / right

English chooses between those more strictly than Hungarian does. Hungarian simply uses the normal directional forms here.

Why doesn’t posta have a case ending before után?

Because után itself is doing the job of expressing the relationship.

So Hungarian says:

• a posta után

The noun posta stays in its basic form, and the postposition után tells you the meaning after/past.

This is different from some other Hungarian structures where the noun itself gets a case ending.

Could I also say bal oldalon or jobb oldalon instead of balra and jobbra?

Yes.

• bal oldalon = on the left side
• jobb oldalon = on the right side

These are correct, but in simple directions, balra and jobbra are usually shorter and more natural.

So all of these are possible:

• A gyógyszertár balra van.
• A gyógyszertár a bal oldalon van.

The first one is more compact and very common in spoken directions.

Is this a complete natural sentence for giving directions?

Yes, very natural.

It sounds like a normal direction-style sentence in Hungarian:

• A gyógyszertár a posta után balra van, a piac pedig jobbra.

It is concise, clear, and uses the kinds of expressions Hungarians normally use when explaining where places are.