Az ország útjai biztonságosak.

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

• a before a consonant sound
• az before a vowel sound

Because ország begins with the vowel o, the correct form is az ország.

In this sentence, az makes the whole noun phrase definite: az ország útjai = the country's roads.

Hungarian usually shows possession by putting:

1. the possessor first
2. the possessed noun after it, with a possessive ending

So:

• ország = country
• útjai = its roads / the roads belonging to it

Together, az ország útjai means the country's roads.

Unlike English, Hungarian does not use an apostrophe here. So instead of something like country's roads, it uses a possessive structure built into the noun phrase.

Because utak just means roads, while útjai means its roads or the roads of it.

Compare:

• út = road
• utak = roads
• útjai = its roads / his roads / her roads / the roads belonging to the stated possessor

Since the roads belong to the country, Hungarian uses the possessed plural form útjai, not the plain plural utak.

Yes, by itself útjai can mean his roads, her roads, or its roads, depending on context.

In this sentence, the possessor is stated explicitly as az ország, so az ország útjai is understood as the country's roads.

A useful way to think about it is:

• English often uses a separate possessive word like its
• Hungarian often puts that possession directly onto the noun with an ending

So Hungarian does not need a separate word meaning its here.

The j is part of the possessive ending.

For út, the 3rd-person possessed forms are:

• útja = its road
• útjai = its roads

So the j is not a separate word or extra letter with its own meaning. It belongs to the possessive pattern used with many nouns.

This is why it is best to learn these as full forms:

• út
• útja
• útjai

rather than trying to treat the j as something independent.

Because the subject is plural.

• biztonságos = safe
• biztonságosak = safe, when referring to a plural subject

In Hungarian, predicate adjectives usually show plural when the subject is plural:

• Az út biztonságos. = The road is safe.
• Az utak biztonságosak. = The roads are safe.

English adjectives do not change form here, but Hungarian ones often do in this position.

It is omitted.

In Hungarian, the present-tense 3rd-person forms of to be are normally left out when the predicate is a noun or an adjective.

So:

• Az ország útjai biztonságosak.

literally has no separate word for are, but it still means:

• The country's roads are safe.

This is completely normal in Hungarian.

By contrast, with 1st and 2nd person, the verb does appear:

• Biztonságos vagyok. = I am safe.
• Biztonságos vagy. = You are safe.

This is a neutral, natural word order in Hungarian:

• Az ország útjai = topic / subject
• biztonságosak = what is being said about them

So the sentence is structured like:

• As for the country's roads, they are safe.

Hungarian word order is flexible, though. If you want to emphasize safe, you could say:

• Biztonságosak az ország útjai.

That version puts more focus on the idea of safety.

Because Hungarian has an unmarked possessive pattern that is very common and natural.

So:

• az ország útjai = the country's roads

is perfectly normal.

There is also a marked possessive pattern with -nak/-nek, for example:

• az országnak az útjai

That version is possible, but it is usually more emphatic, more contrastive, or used in a different discourse context.

For a simple neutral statement, az ország útjai is the expected form.

The whole subject is plural, because the head noun is útjai = roads.

Even though ország is singular, it is only the possessor. The thing being talked about is roads, and that is plural. That is why the predicate is also plural:

• útjai = roads
• biztonságosak = are safe, with plural agreement

So the sentence is about multiple roads belonging to one country.