"Én az ebéd előtt megmosom a kezemet."

Translation: I wash my hands before lunch.

[guilth]

why not: I wash my hands before THE lunch?

[Hulk014]

Because the article "the" can be left out in this case at the English translation, whereas we should use the Hungarian article "az".

[vvsey]

You can also omit the article "az" in the Hungarian sentence. It will become more of a general statement, a habitual action. (Which it should be anyway :) ).

[fiderallala]

Why is it "hands" and not "hand"? Wouldn't that be "kezeimet"?

[rdhelli]

If you translate literally, you're right and it's ok to say that, just a little more usual with singular form, because Hungarian often uses singular in indefinite conjugations. These are almost set phrases:
to cut trees = fát vágni
to wash hands = kezet mosni
to drink beers = sört inni

[AntoineColombani]

yes can someone explain why?

[BigWayne19]

------- hunkies treat pairs of things, like eyes, ears, hands, feet, shoes, as if they were one, as if they were the singular.

english does the reverse in a few things: chief among which is pants . . .

Big 22 jan 19

[supineny]

I guess i'm still a little confused as to why we use meg- in this case. Because it's a definate object? Because it was just once?

[jzsuzsi]

It's complicated. Take a look at "perfective aspect"

I copy some links here:
Hungarian telicity/ perfective aspect, using meg- https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/29738625

"Nem eszitek meg a vacsorát?" https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/23947973