A barátom beteg, ezért ma otthon marad.

In Hungarian, possession is usually shown with an ending on the noun instead of a separate word like my.

• barát = friend
• barátom = my friend

The ending -om means my here. So barátom literally breaks down as friend + my.

You can compare:

• barátom = my friend
• barátod = your friend
• barátja = his/her friend

Because of this, Hungarian often does not need a separate possessive word.

A is the definite article, meaning the.

So A barátom is literally something like the my-friend. That sounds strange in English, but it is normal in Hungarian. When a possessed noun is the subject, Hungarian often uses the definite article:

• A barátom beteg. = My friend is sick.

So even though English says just my friend, Hungarian commonly says the my-friend.

In Hungarian, the verb to be is often omitted in the present tense in the third person singular and plural.

So:

• A barátom beteg. literally = My friend sick.
• Natural English = My friend is sick.

This is completely normal Hungarian.

But in other persons, the verb appears:

• Beteg vagyok. = I am sick.
• Beteg vagy. = You are sick.
• A barátom beteg. = My friend is sick.

So the missing is is not a mistake; it is a basic rule of Hungarian grammar.

Here beteg is an adjective meaning sick or ill.

In A barátom beteg, it functions as the predicate: it describes the subject A barátom.

So the structure is:

• A barátom = my friend
• beteg = sick

Together: My friend is sick.

Ezért means therefore, so, for this reason, or that is why.

In this sentence:

• A barátom beteg, ezért ma otthon marad.
• My friend is sick, so he/she is staying home today.

It is related in meaning to because, but it does not work exactly the same way.

Compare:

• mert = because
• ezért = therefore / so / for this reason

For example:

• Otthon marad, mert beteg. = He/She is staying home because he/she is sick.
• Beteg, ezért otthon marad. = He/She is sick, therefore he/she is staying home.

So ezért introduces the result, not the cause.

Yes, Hungarian word order is flexible, but it is not random. It often reflects focus and emphasis.

In this sentence:

• ezért ma otthon marad

the word ma = today comes before otthon marad, which is a very natural neutral order.

Possible variations can change emphasis:

• Ezért ma otthon marad. = neutral, natural
• Ezért otthon marad ma. = possible, but less neutral in many contexts
• Ezért ma marad otthon. = also possible, slightly different rhythm or focus

So the given order is a normal everyday way to say it.

Otthon means at home or home in the sense of being at home.

In this sentence:

• otthon marad = stays at home / stays home

This is different from haza, which usually means to home / homeward, expressing movement toward home.

Compare:

• Otthon van. = He/She is at home.
• Otthon marad. = He/She stays home.
• Hazamegy. = He/She goes home.

So here otthon is correct because the idea is remaining at home, not going home.

Marad does mean stay or remain.

So:

• otthon marad = stays home / remains at home

It is a very common and natural expression in Hungarian. In this sentence, it implies that because the friend is sick, he or she will not go out, work, school, etc., but instead will stay at home.

Also, in context, the present tense can sound like English will stay:

• A barátom beteg, ezért ma otthon marad.
• My friend is sick, so he’s staying home today or will stay home today.

Hungarian often leaves out subject pronouns when they are understood from context.

Here, after A barátom, it is already clear who we are talking about, so there is no need to repeat ő.

• A barátom beteg, ezért ma otthon marad.
• Literally: My friend sick, therefore today stays home.

If you added ő, it would usually give extra emphasis:

• A barátom beteg, ezért ő ma otthon marad.

That might suggest contrast, like he/she stays home, not someone else.

So leaving the pronoun out is the normal choice.

Yes, marad is present tense.

However, Hungarian often uses the present tense for future meaning when the time is clear from context. In this sentence, ma = today helps anchor the time.

So ma otthon marad can mean:

• is staying home today
• will stay home today

Both are natural English translations depending on context.

Hungarian does this very often, especially when the future is obvious.

Yes. Úgyhogy is another common way to say so.

Compare:

• ezért = therefore / for this reason
• úgyhogy = so

Both can work here:

• A barátom beteg, ezért ma otthon marad.
• A barátom beteg, úgyhogy ma otthon marad.

The version with ezért may sound a bit more formal or explicit, while úgyhogy is very common in everyday speech.

You could say:

• A barátom nagyon beteg, ezért ma otthon marad.

Breakdown:

• nagyon = very
• beteg = sick
• ezért = therefore / so
• ma otthon marad = stays home today

So nagyon goes before the adjective it modifies:

• nagyon beteg = very sick