-ettem

See also: ettem

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɛtːɛm]

Etymology 1

From -ett (past-tense suffix) +‎ -em (first-person singular suffix).

Suffix

-ettem

1. (past-tense suffix) Forms the first-person singular past tense of verbs (indefinite and definite conjugation).

   fest (“to paint”) → Fehérre festettem a falakat. ― I painted the walls white.

   segít (“to help”) → Segítettem a nagymamámnak főzni. ― I helped my grandmother cook.

   megért (“to understand”) → Megértettem a feladatot. ― I understood the task.

Usage notes

• (past-tense suffix) Variants:

  -tam is added to most back-vowel verbs

  -tem is added to most front-vowel verbs

  -ttam is added to back-vowel verbs ending in a vowel (hí, fú, ó, ró, rí, szí)

  -ttem is added to front-vowel verbs ending in a vowel (fő, jő, lő, nő, nyű, sző)

  -ottam is added to back-vowel verbs ending in two consonants or a long vowel + t, or to monosyllables ending in -t (fut, hat, jut, nyit, except lát)

  -ettem is added to unrounded front-vowel verbs ending in two consonants or a long vowel + t, or to monosyllables ending in -t (vet)

  -öttem is added to rounded front-vowel verbs ending in two consonants or a long vowel + t, or to monosyllables ending in -t (köt, süt, üt)

Etymology 2

From -et (causative suffix) +‎ -t (past-tense suffix) +‎ -em (first-person singular suffix).

Suffix

-ettem

1. (past-tense causative suffix) Forms the first-person singular causative past tense of verbs (indefinite and definite conjugations), used with -val/-vel, e.g. vele, velük etc., otherwise coinciding with the above forms.

   ‎fest (“to paint”) + ‎-ettem → ‎festettem (“I had him/her/them paint it”)

   megért (“to understand”) → Megértettem velük, hogy számomra ez a helyes döntés. ― I made them understand that this was the right decision for me.

Usage notes

Homonymy exists between regular and causative past tense forms of consonant + t types of front-vowel verbs, in all the six persons, both with definite and indefinite endings, except for the third-person singular indefinite form (-ettem, -ettél, –, -ettünk, -ettetek, -ettek; -ettem, -etted, -ette, -ettük, -ettétek, -ették; -ettelek). On the other hand, other types of front-vowel verbs as well as back-vowel verbs take different forms for the regular and the causative past tense (e.g. -ottam and -attam, e.g. ugrottam and ugrattam among similar back-vowel verbs, other front-vowel verb types having clearly distinct forms: kértem vs. kérettem, kerestem vs. kerestettem). However, the -val/-vel argument is compulsory with the causative sense, so it makes the distinction easier (e.g. megértettem velük a különbséget – “I made them understand the difference”).

See also

• Category:Hungarian verb forms
• Appendix:Hungarian suffixes