-ették

See also: ették, -ettek, and ettek

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɛtːeːk]

Etymology 1

From -ett (past-tense suffix) +‎ -ék (third-person plural suffix).

Suffix

-ették

1. (past-tense suffix) Forms the third-person plural past tense of verbs (definite conjugation).

   ‎szerkeszt (“to edit”) + ‎-ették → ‎szerkesztették (“they (have/had) edited”)

   ‎vetít (“to project”) + ‎-ették → ‎vetítették (“they (have/had) projected”)

   ‎vet (“to sow”) + ‎-ették → ‎vetették (“they (have/had) sowed/sown”)

Usage notes

• (past tense suffix) Variants:

  -ták is added to most back-vowel verbs

  -ték is added to most front-vowel verbs

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

  -tték is added to front-vowel verbs ending in a vowel (lő, nyű, sző)

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

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

  -ötték 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) +‎ -ék (third-person plural suffix).

Suffix

-ették

1. (past-tense causative suffix) Forms the third-person plural causative past tense of verbs (definite conjugation), used with -val/-vel, e.g. vele, velük etc., otherwise coinciding with the above forms.

   ‎fest (“to paint”) + ‎-ették → ‎festették (“they had someone paint something”)

   ‎megért (“to understand”) + ‎-ették → ‎megértették (“they made someone understand something”)

   Megértették velünk, hogy nem tehetünk ilyet. ― They made us understand that we couldn't do such a thing.

   ‎szerkeszt (“to edit”) + ‎-ették → ‎szerkesztették (“they had someone edit something”)

   Velünk szerkesztették az újságjukat. ― They had us edit their newspaper.

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