-ta/-te

Factive Nominal Clause

Level 6

Packages an action or state into a noun phrase, translating to 'someone's having done something' or 'X's [verb]ing'.

How It Works

The -tA event nominalization (often called T-nominalization) is an advanced structure that packages an event or state into a nominal constituent. It translates to 'X's having [verb]ed' or 'X's [verb]ing'.

1. Morphology and the 'Definite Object' Myth
It is formed by attaching the bare past participle suffix (-t / -tt) to the verb stem, stripping away the linking vowels (-o-, -e-, -ö-) found in standard past participles (e.g., the past participle of tud is tudott, but the nominalization is tudta). Note that verbs which strictly require a linking vowel for phonotactic reasons (such as stems ending in two consonants like fest, olt, or bont) generally reject this nominalization entirely rather than stripping the vowel. This is followed by a nominal possessive suffix. This includes singular possessors (e.g., -a / -e for 3rd-person, -om / -em / -öm for 1st-person) as well as plural possessors (e.g., -uk / -ük, -unk / -ünk).

Because the 3rd-person singular form (e.g., tud-t-a) is perfectly homophonous with the finite past tense definite conjugation (tudta 'he knew it'), a widespread myth claims the -a/-e ending here is the definite object suffix. This is false. It is a possessive suffix marking the logical subject or object, proven by the fact that it inflects for other persons: tudt-o-m-mal ('with my knowledge'). If you want to name a 3rd-party subject doing the action, that noun acts as the possessor and typically takes the unmarked nominative form (or the dative -nak/-nek), following standard possessive constructions (e.g., az elnök megérkeztekor 'upon the president's arrival').

2. Meaning, Register, and Syntactic Restrictions
Unlike the fully productive action noun, the -tA form packages an action or state into a noun regardless of whether it is realized, anticipated, or negated (e.g., megérkezte előtt 'before his arrival', tudta nélkül 'without his knowledge'). Crucially, -tA nominalizations are almost exclusively locked into adverbial roles (using oblique cases or postpositions) and cannot freely act as the core subject or direct object of a sentence (e.g., A megérkezte meglepett engem is invalid). For core arguments like subjects and direct objects, you must use the standard action noun instead.

Productively forming new clauses with this pattern is highly formal, literary, or archaic. It is lexically restricted and cannot be applied to just any verb. It is overwhelmingly used with unaccusative verbs (verbs of motion or change of state: jön, megy, érkezik, indul, múlik, távozik) and a handful of specific sensory/mental verbs (tud, lát, hall). Learners should treat these as set vocabulary words. However, it remains highly frequent in everyday modern Hungarian within specific, lexicalized phrases, especially with postpositions like után, előtt, and nélkül.

3. Case Suffixes and Vowel Lengthening
This pattern is also very commonly lexicalized with case suffixes, such as the temporal -kor (megérkeztekor 'upon his arrival'), sublative -ra/-re (jöttödre 'upon your coming'), inessive -ban/-ben, and instrumental -val/-vel (tudtommal 'to my knowledge'). Note the core orthographic rule: the 3rd-person possessive suffix -a / -e lengthens to -á- / -é- when a case suffix is attached (e.g., jártában-keltében 'while walking about'), with the notable exception of the temporal suffix -kor, which does not trigger lengthening (e.g., megérkeztekor).

Examples (4)

  1. A tudta nélkül adták el a házat.

    They sold the house without his knowledge.

    Word by Word: The knowledge-his without sold away the house.

    Uses 'tud' (know) + 't' (past participle) + 'a' (3rd person singular possessive). It functions as the object of the postposition 'nélkül'.

  2. A vonat megérkezte után rögtön hívtalak.

    After the train's arrival, I called you immediately.

    Word by Word: The train arrival-its after immediately called-I-you.

    A highly common lexicalized use of the -tA nominalization with the postposition 'után'.

  3. Jöttödre nem számítottam.

    I did not expect your coming.

    Word by Word: Coming-your-onto not expected-I.

    Demonstrates inflection for the 2nd person: 'jön' (come) + 't' (participle) + 'öd' (2nd person singular possessive) + 're' (sublative case).

  4. Megérkeztekor mindenki tapsolt.

    Upon his arrival, everyone clapped.

    Word by Word: Arrival-his-at everyone clapped.

    A common fixed expression using the -tA form with the temporal case suffix '-kor'.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the -tA nominalization productively with any verb in casual conversation.

    A könyv elolvasta után elmentem aludni.
    Miután elolvastam a könyvet, elmentem aludni.

    Advanced learners sometimes try to form new -tA clauses in casual speech. In modern Hungarian, this sounds highly unnatural and archaic. You should restrict this pattern to established lexical chunks (like 'megérkezte után') and otherwise use finite subordinate clauses (e.g., 'miután elolvastam') or the standard -ás/-és verbal noun.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

-ta/-teLevel 6Factive Nominal Clause

Learn This First

The -tA factive complement (also known as the factive nominal clause) is a formal way to turn a whole sentence into a noun-like unit. It is built by taking a past-tense verbal stem and adding possessive suffixes. To understand this, you must be comfortable with how Hungarian marks possession and how the past tense is formed, as the structure essentially treats the action as a 'possession' of the subject.

Words in This Pattern

-ta-te