-ettük
Hungarian
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]From -ett (past-tense suffix) + -ük (first-person plural suffix).
Suffix
[edit]-ettük
- (past-tense suffix) Forms the first-person plural past tense of verbs (indicative mood, definite conjugation).
Usage notes
[edit]- (past-tense suffix) Variants:
- -tuk is added to most back-vowel verbs
- -tük is added to most front-vowel verbs
- -ttuk is added to back-vowel verbs ending in a vowel (hí, fú, ó, ró, rí, szí)
- -ttük is added to front-vowel verbs ending in a vowel (lő, nyű, sző)
- -ottuk 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)
- -ettük is added to unrounded front-vowel verbs ending in two consonants or a long vowel + t, or to monosyllables ending in -t (vet)
- -öttük 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
[edit]From -et (causative suffix) + -t (past-tense suffix) + -ük (first-person plural suffix).
Suffix
[edit]-ettük
- (past-tense causative suffix) Forms the first-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”) + -ettük → festettük (“we had him/her/them paint (it/them)”)
- megért (“to understand”) + -ettük → megértettük (“we made him/her/them understand (it/them)”)
Usage notes
[edit]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”).