A pénztáros azt mondja, hogy ma akció van, ezért a sajt kevesebbe kerül.

A is the definite article, meaning the. Here the speaker is talking about a specific cashier in the situation, so Hungarian naturally says A pénztáros = the cashier.

Using bare pénztáros here would not sound like a normal complete subject in this sentence.

Hungarian has two main verb conjugations: indefinite and definite.

• mond = he/she says in the indefinite conjugation
• mondja = he/she says it / says that in the definite conjugation

Here, what is being said is treated as a definite object, shown by azt and the following hogy clause, so mondja is the natural form.

Azt literally means that or it in the accusative form. In this sentence, it points forward to the whole clause after it:

azt mondja, hogy... = says that...

This is very common in Hungarian. English usually just says says that..., but Hungarian often uses this extra pointer word.

Hogy introduces a subordinate clause and usually corresponds to that in English:

azt mondja, hogy ma akció van
= he/she says that there is a sale today

In English, that is often optional. In Hungarian, hogy is very common and often sounds more natural when included.

Not in this context. In everyday shopping Hungarian, akció means sale, promotion, or special offer.

So ma akció van means something like:

• there is a sale today
• today there is a promotion
• it’s on special today

With van in an existential meaning like there is / there are, Hungarian often uses a bare noun:

• Akció van. = There is a sale.
• Gond van. = There is a problem.

So ma akció van is a natural way to say there is a sale today.

Also, the word order is neutral here. If you said Ma van akció, that would put extra emphasis on today.

Ezért means therefore, for this reason, or that’s why.

It links the two parts of the sentence:

• ma akció van = there is a sale today
• ezért a sajt kevesebbe kerül = therefore the cheese costs less

So it marks a cause-and-result relationship.

A sajt means the cheese. Hungarian often uses the definite article in cases where English might sound more general.

Here it refers to the cheese item being talked about in the situation, so a sajt is natural. In a shop context, Hungarian commonly treats the product under discussion as a definite thing.

This is a very common Hungarian price expression.

Hungarian often uses:

valamibe kerül = costs something
literally, something like goes into something

Examples:

• sokba kerül = it costs a lot
• 500 forintba kerül = it costs 500 forints
• kevesebbe kerül = it costs less

Here kevesebbe comes from kevesebb = less, plus the ending -be, which is the same ending used in price expressions with kerül.

So although it may look strange at first, kevesebbe kerül is just the normal Hungarian way to say costs less.

Yes, that is possible, but it is a slightly different structure.

• A sajt olcsóbb. = The cheese is cheaper.
• A sajt kevesebbe kerül. = The cheese costs less.

Both are natural, but kevesebbe kerül focuses more directly on the amount you pay, while olcsóbb is simply the adjective cheaper.