Past Tense in Hungarian

Overview

Hungarian has a single past tense (unlike English's multiple past forms), formed by adding -t or -tt to the verb stem, followed by personal endings. The past tense exists in both definite and indefinite conjugations, maintaining the distinction that runs through all of Hungarian verb grammar.

At the CEFR A2 level, learners need to master the regular past tense formation, know the most common irregular past stems, and correctly choose between definite and indefinite past forms. The good news is that Hungarian's single past tense covers what English expresses with simple past, present perfect, and sometimes past continuous.

Some verbs have irregular past stems that must be memorized, but the personal endings are consistent and predictable.

How It Works

Past Tense Formation

Verb stem + -t/-tt + personal ending

The choice between -t and -tt depends on the stem's final sound:

Stem ending	Past marker	Example
Vowel	-tt	tanul → tanult
l, r, n, ny, j	-t	olvas → olvasott*
Most other consonants	-ott/-ett/-ött	keres → keresett

*Note: olvas → olvastam uses -t after s with linking vowel.

Past Indefinite Endings

Person	Ending	olvas (read)	tanul (learn)
én	-am/-em	olvastam	tanultam
te	-ál/-él	olvastál	tanultál
ő	—	olvasott	tanult
mi	-unk/-ünk	olvastunk	tanultunk
ti	-atok/-etek	olvastatok	tanultatok
ők	-ak/-ek	olvastak	tanultak

Past Definite Endings

Person	Ending	olvas (read)
én	-am/-em	olvastam
te	-ad/-ed	olvastad
ő	-a/-e	olvasta
mi	-uk/-ük	olvastuk
ti	-átok/-étek	olvastátok
ők	-ák/-ék	olvasták

Common Irregular Past Stems

Infinitive	Past stem	Example
eszik (eat)	evett/ett	Ettem. (I ate.)
iszik (drink)	ivott/itt	Ittam. (I drank.)
vesz (buy/take)	vett	Vettem. (I bought.)
tesz (put)	tett	Tettem. (I put.)
lesz (become)	lett	Lett. (It became.)
megy (go)	ment	Mentem. (I went.)
jön (come)	jött	Jöttem. (I came.)

Examples in Context

Hungarian	English	Note
Olvastam.	I read (past, indef).	no object
Olvastam a könyvet.	I read the book.	definite object
Láttam.	I saw.	irregular -tt
Ettem.	I ate.	irregular stem
Mentem haza.	I went home.	irregular
Tanultunk magyarul.	We studied Hungarian.	regular
Jöttek a barátaim.	My friends came.	irregular
Megvettem az autót.	I bought the car.	prefix + definite
Nem láttam semmit.	I didn't see anything.	negation
Hol voltál?	Where were you?	lenni past

Common Mistakes

Wrong past tense marker

• Wrong: olvasottam
• Right: olvastam
• Why: After stems ending in s, sz, z, the past marker is just -t with appropriate linking vowels. The double -tt form is for vowel-final stems.

Confusing definite and indefinite past

• Wrong: Olvast*am egy könyvet.* (should be indefinite form for "a book")
• Right: Olvast*am egy könyvet.* (Note: 1st person past is the same for both!)
• Why: First person singular past indefinite and definite are identical (-tam/-tem). But other persons differ: olvastál (indef) vs olvastad (def).

Not knowing irregular stems

• Wrong: eszettem (I ate)
• Right: ettem
• Why: Eszik has the irregular past stem ett-/ev-. These must be memorized.

Forgetting stem changes before -t

• Wrong: jönt (came)
• Right: jött
• Why: Jön has the irregular past form jött with stem change and double -tt.

Usage Notes

Hungarian uses the same past tense for what English distinguishes as "I read" (simple past), "I have read" (present perfect), and sometimes "I was reading" (past continuous). Context and adverbs clarify the precise meaning. There is no separate perfect or continuous form.

Verbal prefixes are very common in past tense to indicate completed actions: megírtam (I finished writing it), elmentem (I left), befejeztük (we finished it).

Practice Tips

• Conjugate five regular and five irregular verbs in both past indefinite and past definite through all six persons.
• Tell a simple story about yesterday using only past tense: Reggel felkeltem. Ettem. Dolgozam. Este hazamentem.
• Pay special attention to the irregular verbs — make flashcards for the ten most common.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Definite vs Indefinite Conjugation — the definiteness distinction carries into past tense
• Next steps: Verbal Prefixes — perfective aspect in past tense
• Next steps: Participles — past participle as adjective
• Next steps: Passive-like Constructions — alternative to passive using past forms