A járdán sok ember sétál, ezért a gyerek a zebra előtt vár.

Járdán means on the sidewalk.

• Base word: járda = sidewalk
• Ending: -n here means on

So:

• járda = sidewalk
• járdán = on the sidewalk

This is one of the Hungarian location endings. In other words, Hungarian often uses a suffix where English uses a separate word like on, in, or at.

Also notice that the final a in járda becomes long á before this ending:

• járda → járdán

That kind of vowel lengthening is very common in Hungarian.

Because after sok (many/a lot of), Hungarian normally uses the noun in the singular form.

So:

• sok ember = many people
• not sok emberek

This is different from English, where many requires a plural noun.

Other similar examples:

• sok könyv = many books
• két autó = two cars
• három gyerek = three children

So even when the meaning is plural, the Hungarian noun often stays singular after a number or quantity word.

In standard Hungarian, when the subject is a quantity expression like sok ember, the verb is also usually singular.

So:

• sok ember sétál = many people are walking

not usually:

• sok ember sétálnak

This can feel strange to English speakers, because English would use a plural verb: many people walk / are walking.

A good rule for learners is:

• quantity word + singular noun → often singular verb

Here ezért means therefore, so, or for this reason.

It connects the two parts of the sentence:

• A járdán sok ember sétál = Many people are walking on the sidewalk
• ezért a gyerek a zebra előtt vár = therefore the child waits before the crosswalk

So the logic is:

There are many people on the sidewalk, so the child waits before the crosswalk.

It is a very common linking word in Hungarian.

Yes. In everyday Hungarian, zebra very commonly means a pedestrian crossing / crosswalk.

The image is the same as in English slang: the white stripes look like a zebra.

So in this sentence:

• a zebra előtt = before / in front of the crosswalk

If you want a more formal word, Hungarian also has:

• gyalogátkelőhely = pedestrian crossing

But in normal speech, zebra is extremely common.

Előtt means before or in front of.

Hungarian often uses postpositions, which are like English prepositions, but they come after the noun instead of before it.

So:

• a zebra előtt = before the crosswalk / in front of the crosswalk

Compare the word order:

• English: before the crosswalk
• Hungarian: the crosswalk before

This is completely normal in Hungarian.

A is the Hungarian definite article, meaning the.

So:

• a járdán = on the sidewalk
• a gyerek = the child
• a zebra előtt = before the crosswalk

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

• a before a consonant
• az before a vowel

For example:

• a gyerek
• az ember

In this sentence, all the following words begin with consonants, so the form is a.

Grammatically, a gyerek means the child, because it has the definite article a.

So the sentence is talking about a specific child, or a child already understood from the context.

If Hungarian wanted to say a child in the indefinite sense, it would normally use:

• egy gyerek = a child / one child

So:

• a gyerek = the child
• egy gyerek = a child

Hungarian word order is more flexible than English word order, and it often reflects topic or emphasis.

Starting with A járdán puts the location first, almost like setting the scene:

• A járdán sok ember sétál = On the sidewalk, many people are walking.

A more straightforward English-like order would also be possible:

• Sok ember sétál a járdán.

Both are natural, but the version in your sentence makes the sidewalk the starting point of the information.

So the word order is not random; it helps show what the speaker wants to foreground.

A few useful pronunciation points:

• gy in gyerek is a single Hungarian consonant.
• It does not exist exactly in English, but you can think of it as something a bit like dy in during for many English speakers.
• gyerek sounds roughly like DYE-rek, but that is only an approximation.

About the accented vowels:

• á and é are long vowels
• the accent mainly shows length, not just stress

So:

• járdán has a long á
• sétál has a long é and a long á
• ezért has a long é

Also, Hungarian stress is usually on the first syllable of the word:

• JÁR-dán
• SÉ-tál
• GYE-rek
• ZE-bra
• E-zért

Because the sentence contains two clauses:

1. A járdán sok ember sétál
2. ezért a gyerek a zebra előtt vár

The comma helps separate the cause from the result:

• many people are walking on the sidewalk,
• therefore the child waits before the crosswalk.

So the comma works much like it does in English before words such as so or therefore in longer sentences.