-ettem
Hungarian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ɛtːɛm]
Etymology 1
-ett (past-tense suffix) + -em (first-person singular suffix)
Suffix
-ettem
- (past-tense suffix) Used to form the first-person singular past tense of verbs (indefinite and definite conjugations).
- fest (“to paint”) → festettem (“I painted”)
- segít (“to help”) → segítettem (“I helped”)
- megért (“to understand”) → megértettem (“I understood”)
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
-et (causative suffix) + -t (past-tense suffix) + -em (first-person singular suffix)
Suffix
-ettem
- (past-tense causative suffix) Used to form 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”) → festettem (“I had him/her/them paint it”)
- megért (“to understand”) → megértettem (“I made him/her/them understand it”)
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