-ettek

See also: ettek, -ették, and ették

Hungarian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ɛtːɛk]

Etymology 1

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

Suffix

-ettek

(past-tense suffix) Forms the third-person plural past tense of verbs (indefinite conjugation).
‎szerkeszt (“to edit”) + ‎-ettek → ‎szerkesztettek (“they edited”)

‎vetít (“to project”) + ‎-ettek → ‎vetítettek (“they projected”)

‎vet (“to sow”) + ‎-ettek → ‎vetettek (“they sowed/sown”)

Usage notes

(past-tense suffix) Variants:
-tak is added to most back-vowel verbs

-tek is added to most front-vowel verbs

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

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

-ottak 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)

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

-öttek 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) +‎ -ek (third-person plural suffix).

Suffix

-ettek

(past-tense causative suffix) Forms the third-person plural causative past tense of verbs (indefinite conjugation), used with -val/-vel, e.g. vele, velük etc., otherwise coinciding with the above forms.
‎fest (“to paint”) + ‎-ettek → ‎festettek (“they had someone paint something”)

‎megért (“to understand”) + ‎-ettek → ‎megértettek (“they made someone understand something”)

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”).