-ettelek
Hungarian
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]From -ett (past-tense suffix) + -elek (first-person singular suffix for second-person object).
Suffix
[edit]-ettelek
- (past-tense suffix) Forms the first-person singular past tense of verbs with second-person object (definite conjugation).
- fest (“to paint”) + -ettelek → festettelek (“I (have/had) painted you”)
- ért (“to understand”) + -ettelek → értettelek (“I understood you”)
- segít (“to help”) + -ettelek → segítettelek (“I (have/had) helped you”)
Usage notes
[edit]- (past-tense suffix) Variants:
- -talak is added to most back-vowel verbs
- -telek is added to most front-vowel verbs
- -ttalak is added to back-vowel verbs ending in a vowel (hí, fú, ó, ró, rí, szí)
- -ttelek is added to front-vowel verbs ending in a vowel (lő, nyű, sző)
- -ottalak 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)
- -ettelek is added to unrounded front-vowel verbs ending in two consonants or a long vowel + t, or to monosyllables ending in -t (vet)
- -öttelek 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) + -elek (first-person singular suffix for second-person object).
Suffix
[edit]-ettelek
- (past-tense causative suffix) Forms the first-person plural causative past tense of verbs (with a second-person object), used with -val/-vel, e.g. vele, velük etc., otherwise coinciding with the above forms.
- fest (“to paint”) + -ettelek → festettelek (“I made someone paint you [I commissioned someone to make a painting of you]”)
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”).