A pultnál megkérdezem, mennyibe kerül a sajt.

A pultnál means at the counter.

The ending -nál / -nél is a case ending meaning at, by, or near something.

• pult = counter
• pultnál = at the counter

The choice between -nál and -nél depends on vowel harmony. Since pult has back vowels, it takes -nál.

Also, a here means the, so:

• a pultnál = at the counter / at the checkout counter

Hungarian uses definite articles much like English uses the.

• a pultnál = at the counter
• a sajt = the cheese

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

• a before consonant sounds
• az before vowel sounds

Since pultnál and sajt both begin with consonants, the article is a.

Megkérdezem means I ask or I will ask, depending on context.

It comes from:

• kérdez = to ask
• megkérdez = to ask, often with a sense of completing the action

The prefix meg- is very common in Hungarian. It often gives the verb a more completed, whole, or result-oriented meaning.

So:

• kérdezem = I am asking / I ask
• megkérdezem = I ask it / I’ll ask / I’ll go ahead and ask

In this sentence, megkérdezem sounds natural because the speaker means they will ask and get the information.

Hungarian often uses the present tense to talk about the near future, especially when the future is clear from the context.

So megkérdezem literally looks like I ask, but it can naturally mean:

• I’ll ask
• I’m going to ask

This is very common in Hungarian. English often prefers will or going to, but Hungarian frequently just uses the present form.

The ending -em shows first person singular: I.

But there is something extra going on here: Hungarian verbs have two main conjugations:

• indefinite
• definite

Megkérdezem is in the definite conjugation, because the thing being asked is a definite content or definite object. In this sentence, the speaker is asking something specific: the price of the cheese.

Compare:

• kérdezek = I ask / I am asking
• kérdezem = I ask it / I am asking it

With megkérdezem, the sentence feels like I’ll ask that / I’ll ask the question.

The comma separates the main clause from a subordinate clause.

• A pultnál megkérdezem = At the counter, I’ll ask
• mennyibe kerül a sajt = how much the cheese costs

Hungarian regularly uses a comma before this kind of embedded question.

So the structure is roughly:

• I’ll ask, how much the cheese costs

In natural English we would usually say:

• I’ll ask how much the cheese costs

But in Hungarian, the comma is standard.

Mennyibe means for how much or how much, in the sense of price.

It is built from:

• mennyi = how much
• -be = into

Historically and grammatically, mennyibe kerül? is like saying into how much does it come?, but you should learn it as a fixed and very common pattern meaning:

• How much does it cost?

So:

• Mennyibe kerül? = How much does it cost?

Because Hungarian normally asks about price with the expression mennyibe kerül.

This is the idiomatic way to say how much it costs.

• kerül by itself means costs
• mennyibe kerül = costs how much

Even though mennyi means how much, Hungarian does not usually use mennyi kerül for normal price questions. The standard pattern is:

• Ez mennyibe kerül? = How much does this cost?
• Mennyibe kerül a sajt? = How much does the cheese cost?

So this is a phrase worth memorizing as a unit.

Here kerül means costs.

The verb kerül has several meanings in Hungarian depending on context, including meanings like to get somewhere, to come into a situation, or to cost. In this sentence, it clearly means to cost.

So:

• A sajt kerül... = The cheese costs...

And in the full question:

• mennyibe kerül a sajt = how much the cheese costs

Hungarian word order is more flexible than English word order, and it is strongly influenced by focus and information structure.

In mennyibe kerül a sajt, the question word mennyibe is in the important focus position near the verb, because the unknown information is the price.

So the structure highlights how much:

• mennyibe kerül a sajt = how much the cheese costs

If you moved things around, the sentence might still be grammatical, but the emphasis or naturalness could change. The given order is very normal and natural.

It could exist grammatically, but it would usually sound less natural here.

Megkérdezem suggests a complete action: I’ll ask and find out. That fits this situation well.

Without meg-, kérdezem can sound more ongoing or less result-focused. In everyday speech, when someone means I’ll ask at the counter, megkérdezem is the more idiomatic choice.

So for this sentence, megkérdezem is the better form to learn.

In Hungarian, articles are often used where English also uses the, and sometimes even where English might omit one.

Here a sajt means the cheese, referring to a specific cheese, cheese product, or the cheese being discussed or bought. Since the sentence is about asking the price of a particular item, the definite article is natural.

• a sajt = the cheese

If you removed the article, it would sound less natural in this context.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

A pultnál megkérdezem, mennyibe kerül a sajt.

Approximate English-style pronunciation:

aw POOLT-naal मेग-KAYR-deh-zem, MENY-yee-beh KEH-rül aw shite

A few key points:

• a is usually like o in not or aw
• á is longer, like aa
• é is like ay in say, but pure and steady
• ny sounds like ny in canyon
• sj / s in Hungarian is pronounced like English sh
• j is pronounced like English y

So:

• sajt sounds like shite in English spelling, though with a cleaner vowel
• mennyibe starts with meny-, not men-ee

Yes. A more literal translation would be:

At the counter I ask how much the cheese costs.

Or even more closely:

At the counter, I will ask how much the cheese costs.

This helps show the structure:

• A pultnál = at the counter
• megkérdezem = I’ll ask
• mennyibe kerül = how much it costs
• a sajt = the cheese

So even if the natural English translation is smoother, the Hungarian sentence is built in a very logical way.