Anya az iskola előtt várja a lányát.

Because Anya here is being used like Mom in English, almost as a name or a familiar role, not just the mother in a general sense.

So:

• Anya várja a lányát. = Mom is waiting for her daughter.
• Az anya várja a lányát. = The mother is waiting for her daughter.

The version without the article sounds more natural if we mean the child’s mother in a personal, familiar way.

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

• a before consonant sounds
• az before vowel sounds

Since iskola begins with a vowel, you say:

• az iskola

Compare:

• a ház = the house
• az autó = the car

Előtt means before or in front of.

In this sentence, az iskola előtt means:

• in front of the school
• or more literally, before the school

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

So:

• English: in front of the school
• Hungarian: the school in front of → az iskola előtt

Because előtt is a postposition.

English uses prepositions:

• in front of the school

Hungarian often uses postpositions:

• az iskola előtt

So the order is normal for Hungarian:

• article + noun + postposition

Other examples:

• a ház mögött = behind the house
• az asztal alatt = under the table
• a bolt mellett = next to the shop

Várja is from the verb vár = to wait for.

Hungarian verbs can have two main kinds of conjugation:

• indefinite
• definite

Here, the object is definite: a lányát = her daughter, a specific person. Because of that, Hungarian uses the definite conjugation:

• vár = he/she waits / is waiting
• várja = he/she waits for it/him/her/the specific one

So in this sentence:

• Anya ... várja a lányát.
• Mom is waiting for her daughter.

If there were no definite object, you would expect vár instead.

Two things help make it definite:

1. the article a
2. the fact that it means her daughter, a specific daughter

So a lányát does not mean just a daughter in a vague sense. It means the / her daughter, someone specific.

That is why the verb uses the definite form várja.

Lányát means his/her daughter as the object of the sentence.

It contains several parts:

• lány = girl / daughter
• -a- = possessive element: his/her
• -t = accusative ending, marking the direct object

So:

• lánya = his/her daughter
• lányát = his/her daughter (as object)

In this sentence, because the subject is Anya, we naturally understand it as her daughter:

• Mom is waiting for her daughter.

Because Hungarian usually shows possession with a suffix on the possessed noun, not with a separate possessive word like English her.

English:

• her daughter

Hungarian:

• a lánya

Then if it is the direct object:

• a lányát

Hungarian often leaves out the separate possessor pronoun if it is obvious from context. So you usually do not need ő here.

The -t is the accusative marker, which marks the direct object.

In this sentence, the daughter is the person being waited for, so she is the object:

• Anya várja kit? → a lányát
• Mom is waiting for whom? → her daughter

That is why lánya becomes lányát.

Because Anya is the subject of the sentence, and the subject in Hungarian is usually in the basic form, with no special ending.

So:

• Anya = the one doing the action
• a lányát = the one receiving the action

Hungarian often marks the object clearly, while the subject stays unmarked.

This is a natural Hungarian sentence, but Hungarian word order is more flexible than English word order.

This version presents the information in a fairly neutral way:

• Mom, in front of the school, is waiting for her daughter.

The place phrase az iskola előtt comes before the verb, which is very common.

You could also hear:

• Anya várja a lányát az iskola előtt.

That would still mean basically the same thing, but the emphasis or flow may change slightly depending on context. Hungarian word order often reflects focus and information structure, not just grammar.

Yes. In Hungarian, vár already includes the idea of wait for when it takes an object.

So:

• várok = I am waiting
• várom a buszt = I am waiting for the bus

English needs for, but Hungarian does not. The person or thing being waited for simply appears as the direct object.

That is why:

• várja a lányát = is waiting for her daughter

Yes, lány can mean both girl and daughter, depending on context.

But here, because of the possessive form lányát, it clearly means his/her daughter, not just a girl.

So:

• lány = girl / daughter
• a lánya = his/her daughter
• a lányát = his/her daughter (object)

It could be, but it would usually be unnecessary.

Hungarian often omits the separate pronoun when possession is already clear from the suffix:

• a lányát = her daughter / his daughter

If you say:

• az ő lányát

that adds emphasis, something like:

• her daughter / his daughter
• maybe contrasting with someone else’s daughter

So the simple sentence naturally uses:

• a lányát

Yes. Várja is present tense:

• Anya az iskola előtt várja a lányát.
• Mom is waiting for her daughter in front of the school.

Depending on context, English might translate it as:

• is waiting
• or sometimes waits for

But is waiting is the most natural translation here.

In this sentence, it means in front of the school.

That is because:

• iskola előtt without an article can sometimes mean before school
• az iskola előtt with the article strongly points to the location in front of the school

So the article helps make the meaning concrete and spatial here.