The Hungarian past tense
The Hungarian past tense adds -t (or -tt, or -ott/-ett/-ött with a linking vowel) to the verb stem, followed by personal endings: vártam, olvastam, tanítottam. It is the only past tense in modern Hungarian and covers English "did", "has done" and "was doing".
On this page
Hungarian has a single past tense. Olvastam can mean "I read", "I have read" or "I was reading", and verbal prefixes do much of the work that English does with tenses (elolvastam, "I finished reading it"). Forming the past is mechanical once you know one thing about each verb: whether the past marker attaches directly (-t) or with a linking vowel (-ott/-ett/-ött).
The structure: stem + past marker + personal ending
Every past form has three parts: the stem, the past marker, and a personal ending that varies for definiteness and vowel harmony.
| Person | Indef. back | Indef. front | Def. back | Def. front |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| én | -tam | -tem | -tam | -tem |
| te | -tál | -tél | -tad | -ted |
| ő / Ön | -t / -ott | -t / -ett, -ött | -ta | -te |
| mi | -tunk | -tünk | -tuk | -tük |
| ti | -tatok | -tetek | -tátok | -tétek |
| ők / Önök | -tak | -tek | -ták | -ték |
Three facts make the past simpler than the present:
- Only two harmony variants in the personal endings: front rounded verbs use the e endings (főztem, főztetek). Rounding appears only in the 3sg linking vowel -ött (főzött).
- The 1sg is identical in both conjugations: láttam is "I saw" and "I saw it". The 1pl differs only in its vowel (láttunk / láttuk).
- No sibilant assimilation: the definite endings contain no j, so olvasta and nézte are regular.
Three types of verb: which past marker?
Verbs fall into three groups. The 3sg indefinite is the form that reveals the group, so it is the best "reference form" to memorize with each verb, just as dictionaries list it.
| Type | 1sg | 3sg indef. | 3sg def. | Typical stems |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1: -t everywhere | vártam | várt | várta | ending in j, l, ly, n, ny, r; some in -d |
| 2: -t, but 3sg indef. -ott | olvastam | olvasott | olvasta | ending in s, sz, z, zs, a plosive (b, d, g, k, p), or a longer stem in vowel + t |
| 3: -ott everywhere | tanítottam | tanított | tanította | -ít, a cluster ending in t, or a one-syllable stem in vowel + t |
Type 1: -t in every form
Stems ending in the sonorants j, l, ly, n, ny, r take a bare -t, including the 3sg: várt, kért, élt, félt, beszélt, tanult, ült, fújt, köszönt, nyert, írt. A few two-syllable verbs in -d also belong here: maradt, szaladt, haladt.
- Sokáig vártunk rád. We waited for you for a long time.
- Tavaly Debrecenben élt. Last year she lived in Debrecen.
Type 2: -t, except for the 3sg indefinite
Stems ending in a sibilant or a plosive take bare -t in all forms but the 3sg indefinite, which gets -ott/-ett/-ött. The 3sg definite goes back to bare -t.
- Egész nap olvasott. He read all day.
- Elolvasta a levelet. He read the letter (to the end).
- Nézett, de nem szólt. She looked but said nothing.
- Adott egy tollat. / Nekem adta a tollat. He gave (me) a pen. / He gave me the pen.
- Mit mondott? / Mit mondtál? What did he say? / What did you say?
Other members: tud (tudtam, tudott), kap (kaptam, kapott), fog (fogtam, fogott), lép (léptem, lépett), küld (küldtem, küldött), kezd (kezdtem, kezdett), keres (kerestem, keresett), and -ik verbs such as lakik (laktam, lakott), dolgozik (dolgoztam, dolgozott), utazik (utaztam, utazott). Longer verbs ending in vowel + t also belong here, with the stem t and the past t merging into tt: mutat (mutattam, mutatott), szeret (szerettem, szeretett), hallgat (hallgattam, hallgatott). The one-syllable lát behaves the same way: láttam, látott, látta.
Type 3: linking vowel in every form
- All -ít verbs: tanítottam, segítettem, építettem.
- Stems ending in a consonant cluster with final t: tart (tartottam), ért (értettem), fest (festettem), tölt (töltöttem).
- One-syllable stems in vowel + t (except lát): fut (futottam), köt (kötöttem), üt (ütöttem), süt (sütöttem), jut (jutottam).
- A few other clusters: ugrik (ugrottam), hall (hallottam), játszik (játszottam).
Where the rules leak: the groups are strong tendencies, not laws. Hall gives hallottam but áll gives álltam; marad gives maradt but fogad gives fogadott. When in doubt, look up the 3sg past or check the verb in the conjugator.
A decision procedure for the past marker
- Is the verb irregular (van, megy, jön, eszik, iszik, tesz, vesz, visz, hisz, lesz, alszik, fekszik)? Use the table in the irregular section.
- Does the stem end in -ít? Type 3: -ott/-ett everywhere.
- Does it end in a consonant + t cluster, or is it one syllable ending in short vowel + t? Type 3. (A few other clusters, as in ugrik and hall, are Type 3 too.)
- Does it end in j, l, ly, n, ny, r? Type 1: -t everywhere.
- Everything else (sibilants, b, d, g, k, p, longer stems in vowel + t, and lát): Type 2, with -ott/-ett/-ött in the 3sg indefinite only.
Full paradigms
Type 1: vár (wait) and kér (ask for)
| Person | vár indef. | vár def. | kér indef. | kér def. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| én | vártam | vártam | kértem | kértem |
| te | vártál | vártad | kértél | kérted |
| ő / Ön | várt | várta | kért | kérte |
| mi | vártunk | vártuk | kértünk | kértük |
| ti | vártatok | vártátok | kértetek | kértétek |
| ők / Önök | vártak | várták | kértek | kérték |
Type 2: olvas (read) and főz (cook)
| Person | olvas indef. | olvas def. | főz indef. | főz def. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| én | olvastam | olvastam | főztem | főztem |
| te | olvastál | olvastad | főztél | főzted |
| ő / Ön | olvasott | olvasta | főzött | főzte |
| mi | olvastunk | olvastuk | főztünk | főztük |
| ti | olvastatok | olvastátok | főztetek | főztétek |
| ők / Önök | olvastak | olvasták | főztek | főzték |
Type 3: tanít (teach)
| Person | Indefinite | Definite |
|---|---|---|
| én | tanítottam | tanítottam |
| te | tanítottál | tanítottad |
| ő / Ön | tanított | tanította |
| mi | tanítottunk | tanítottuk |
| ti | tanítottatok | tanítottátok |
| ők / Önök | tanítottak | tanították |
With "I" as subject and informal "you" as object, the past uses -lak/-lek after the past marker: vártalak, kértelek, láttalak, tanítottalak. See -lak/-lek.
Homonym alert: for front-vowel verbs the past 3pl looks like the present 2pl. Kértek is both "they asked" and "you (pl.) ask". Context and word order usually settle it; back-vowel verbs keep them apart (vártak vs vártok).
Irregular pasts
The most frequent verbs are also the least regular. Note that several have a different stem in the 3sg indefinite from the rest of the paradigm (evett but ettem).
| Verb | Meaning | 1sg | 3sg indef. | 3sg def. | 3pl indef. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| van | be | voltam | volt | (none) | voltak |
| lesz | become, will be | lettem | lett | (none) | lettek |
| megy | go | mentem | ment | (none) | mentek |
| jön | come | jöttem | jött | (none) | jöttek |
| eszik | eat | ettem | evett | ette | ettek |
| iszik | drink | ittam | ivott | itta | ittak |
| tesz | put, do | tettem | tett | tette | tettek |
| vesz | take, buy | vettem | vett | vette | vettek |
| visz | carry, take | vittem | vitt | vitte | vittek |
| hisz | believe | hittem | hitt | hitte | hittek |
| alszik | sleep | aludtam | aludt | (none) | aludtak |
| fekszik | lie | feküdtem | feküdt | (none) | feküdtek |
The full indefinite paradigm of eszik shows the split stem clearly: ettem, ettél, evett, ettünk, ettetek, ettek. Iszik works the same way: ittam, ittál, ivott, ittunk, ittatok, ittak. The past of van is completely regular once you know the stem: voltam, voltál, volt, voltunk, voltatok, voltak. More detail on the irregular verbs page, and on volt and nem volt / nem voltak on van and nincs.
Using the past: aspect without extra tenses
English distinguishes "I read", "I have read", "I was reading" and "I had read". Hungarian uses one past tense and expresses completion mostly with verbal prefixes.
- Tegnap este olvastam. I was reading last night. / I read last night.
- Tegnap este elolvastam a könyvet. Last night I finished (reading) the book.
- Voltál már Egerben? Have you ever been to Eger?
- Mire odaértem, már elment. By the time I got there, he had already left.
The last example shows how Hungarian handles the English pluperfect: with the ordinary past, a prefix and time words like már ("already") and mire ("by the time"). Older literary texts contain a compound past such as olvastam volt, but it is not part of the modern standard. The combination of past plus volna (olvastam volna) is the past conditional, covered on the conditional page.
Common learner errors
- *olvasottam for olvastam: using the 3sg linking vowel in every person for a Type 2 verb.
- *tanítam for tanítottam: -ít verbs keep the linking vowel and the double t in every person.
- *látottam for láttam: lát is the exception among one-syllable t verbs.
- *olvasotta for olvasta, or *Nézett a filmet for Nézte a filmet: in Type 2 the definite 3sg never has the linking vowel.
- *esztem, *iszottam for ettem, ittam: irregular stems.
- *alszott for aludt: alszik uses its alud- stem outside the present.
Sources and further reading
- Carol H. Rounds, Hungarian: An Essential Grammar (2nd ed., Routledge, 2009), past tense
- Miklós Törkenczy, Hungarian Verbs and Essentials of Grammar (2nd ed., McGraw-Hill, 2008)
- Péter Siptár and Miklós Törkenczy, The Phonology of Hungarian (Oxford University Press, 2000), on linking vowels
Key takeaways
- One past tense covers "did", "has done" and "was doing"; prefixes mark completion.
- Learn the 3sg indefinite past of each verb: it tells you the type.
- Type 1 (várt): -t everywhere. Type 2 (olvasott): -t except the 3sg indefinite. Type 3 (tanított): linking vowel everywhere.
- The 1sg past is the same in both conjugations: láttam.
- Key irregulars: volt, lett, ment, jött, evett, ivott, tett, vett, vitt, hitt, aludt.
Frequently asked questions
How many past tenses does Hungarian have?
One in modern standard Hungarian. It translates English simple past, present perfect and past progressive, with verbal prefixes adding a sense of completion.
When does the Hungarian past tense use -ott instead of -t?
Verbs in -ít, verbs ending in a cluster with final t, and one-syllable verbs in vowel + t (except lát) use -ott/-ett/-ött throughout. Sibilant and plosive stems use it only in the 3sg indefinite (olvasott but olvastam).
What is the past tense of "van" in Hungarian?
Volt: voltam, voltál, volt, voltunk, voltatok, voltak. The negative is simply nem volt; there is no past form of nincs.
Why is it "evett" but "ettem"?
Eszik has an irregular past: the 3sg indefinite uses the stem ev- (evett), while all other forms use e- with a double t (ettem, ette). Iszik is parallel: ivott but ittam.
Is the definite past different from the indefinite past?
Yes, except in the 1sg. Compare olvastál / olvastad, olvasott / olvasta, olvastunk / olvastuk.