A macska lát egy egeret.

Word by word:

• A = the
• macska = cat
• lát = sees
• egy = a / an or one
• egeret = mouse as a direct object

So the whole sentence means The cat sees a mouse.

This is a very common beginner confusion.

In Hungarian:

• a / az = the
• egy = a / an or one

So:

• a macska = the cat
• egy egér = a mouse

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

• a before most consonant sounds
• az before vowel sounds

For example:

• a macska = the cat
• az egér = the mouse

Because egeret is the direct object form.

Hungarian usually marks the direct object with -t.
In this sentence, the mouse is the thing being seen, so it gets object marking:

• egér = mouse
• egeret = mouse as the object

This is called the accusative.

The extra vowel before -t appears for pronunciation reasons. Hungarian often inserts a vowel so the word is easier to say. So it is not just egér + t, but the actual accusative form egeret.

Because macska is the subject of the sentence.

In Hungarian, the subject is often left in its basic form, with no special ending:

• A macska = the cat → the one doing the action
• egy egeret = a mouse → the one receiving the action

So Hungarian marks the object much more clearly than English does.

This is an important grammar point.

Hungarian verbs can use two kinds of conjugation:

• indefinite conjugation
• definite conjugation

Here the object is egy egeret = a mouse, which is indefinite, so Hungarian uses the indefinite verb form:

• A macska lát egy egeret. = The cat sees a mouse.

If the object were definite, Hungarian would usually use the definite verb form:

• A macska látja az egeret. = The cat sees the mouse.

So:

• lát goes well with an indefinite object
• látja goes well with a definite object

In this sentence, yes: it looks like Subject–Verb–Object:

• A macska = subject
• lát = verb
• egy egeret = object

But Hungarian word order is more flexible than English word order. It often changes to show topic, focus, or emphasis.

This sentence is a neutral, straightforward way to say it.

For example, different word orders can sound more emphatic or contrastive, even if the basic meaning stays similar.

Yes, that is possible.

Both sentences can mean The cat sees a mouse, but the feel is slightly different.

• A macska lát egy egeret. = neutral statement
• A macska egy egeret lát. = may put a bit more attention on a mouse

Hungarian word order is strongly connected to emphasis and information structure, not just grammar. So multiple versions may be correct, but they are not always identical in nuance.

egy can be tricky for English speakers.

A simple learner-friendly approximation is something like edj or edge without a strong final vowel.
The gy sound is a special Hungarian consonant, softer than English j.

Also, in normal speech, egy may sound a bit shorter or reduced depending on context.

So in egy egeret, try something close to:

• edj egeret

It does not sound like the English word egg.

A rough English-friendly pronunciation guide is:

aw MAWCH-kaw laaht edj EH-gheh-ret

A few notes:

• a in A is pronounced like a short aw
• cs sounds like English ch
• á is a long vowel, so lát has a longer a sound
• stress in Hungarian normally falls on the first syllable of each word:
  • A
  • MACS-ka
  • LÁT
  • Egy
  • E-ge-ret

So the rhythm is quite regular compared with English.

Hungarian does not have separate forms for a and an.

English changes between a and an depending on the next sound. Hungarian does not do that here. It always uses egy:

• egy macska = a cat
• egy egér = a mouse

So egy covers both English a and an.

It would be az egeret.

For example:

• A macska látja az egeret. = The cat sees the mouse.

Notice two things change:

1. egy egeret becomes az egeret because the mouse is now definite
2. lát becomes látja because Hungarian usually uses the definite verb form with a definite object

This pair is very useful to compare:

• A macska lát egy egeret. = The cat sees a mouse.
• A macska látja az egeret. = The cat sees the mouse.