-t/-tt (múlt idő)

Modern Hungarian uses a single inflected past tense for all past actions. The specific meaning (like 'I wrote' vs 'I have written') is usually handled by verbal prefixes.

Morphological Rules:

• Type 1 (-t): Used for stems ending in sonorants: -j, -l, -ly, -n, -ny, -r (note that -m is an exception and belongs to Type 3), as well as some stems ending in double consonants (geminates) like áll or varr (though several common geminates like hall, kell, and vall belong to Type 2). Example: vár → várt, áll → állt. This also includes many disyllabic verbs ending in -ad/-ed. As a rule of thumb, intransitive -ad/-ed verbs (like marad → maradt, ébred → ébredt) generally follow Type 1, while transitive -ad/-ed verbs (like fogad → fogadott, enged → engedett, tagad → tagadott) generally follow Type 3. (Note that some verbs like szenved and téved also follow Type 3). The verb támad splits its behavior based on meaning: when it means 'to arise/occur' (intransitive) it follows Type 1 (támadt), but when it means 'to attack' (transitive) it follows Type 3 (támadott).
• Type 2 (link vowel + -tt): Used for stems ending in a consonant cluster (including specific geminates like hall, kell, and vall, but excluding others like áll and varr, and generally excepting those ending in -d like mond or küld, though there are exceptions like küzd and old which can follow Type 2), monosyllabic stems ending in -t (e.g., fut), or stems ending in a long vowel + -t (e.g., -ít, -át, -űt, -ét, like tanít or fűt). These verbs use -ott-/-ett-/-ött- as the past tense marker for all persons in both the indefinite and definite conjugations, to which personal endings are then attached (e.g., tanít-ott-a, tanít-ott-uk). The choice between -ott, -ett, and -ött depends on vowel harmony.
• Type 3 (Mixed): Stems ending in sibilants (-s, -sz, -z), polysyllabic stems ending in a short vowel + -t (e.g., mutat, szeret), and stems ending in the remaining consonants (-b, -d, -f, -g, -gy, -k, -p, -v, -m, like nyom or terem) use -t for most persons, but require -ott/-ett/-ött only in the 3rd person singular indefinite. Example: mondtam (I said) but mondott (he said). In contrast, for the definite conjugation, Type 3 verbs use the short -t- without a link vowel for all persons (e.g., mondtam, mondtad, mondta, mondtuk, mondtátok, mondták). Note: The verbs lát (see) and hat (have an effect) are exceptions to the monosyllabic -t rule (and lát to the long vowel + -t rule), behaving as Type 3 (e.g., láttam, indefinite látott, but definite látta; hattam, indefinite hatott).
• Type 4 (Vowel-ending stems): Verbs ending in a vowel (e.g., nő, lő, fő, rí, ró) take -tt directly without a link vowel (e.g., nőttem, lőttem).

Past Tense Endings:
After adding the past tense marker, you attach the personal endings:

• Indefinite: -am/-em, -ál/-él, -∅, -unk/-ünk, -atok/-etek, -ak/-ek. (Note that the 3rd person singular indefinite personal ending is always -∅, and any preceding -ott/-ett/-ött is the past tense marker.)
• Definite: -am/-em, -ad/-ed, -a/-e, -uk/-ük, -átok/-étek, -ák/-ék.
• 1st Person to 2nd Person: -alak/-elek (e.g., vártalak - 'I waited for you'). This uses the I … You Ending.

-ik Verbs: For -ik verbs, simply drop the -ik ending to find the stem, and apply the rules above based on the final sound of the stem (e.g., dolgozik → dolgoz- → dolgozott). Note that some -ik verbs have irregular past stems ending in -d (e.g., alszik → aludt-, fekszik → feküdt-). These take -t in all persons, including the 3rd person singular indefinite (e.g., aludt, feküdt).

Irregular Verbs: Essential irregular verbs have unique past stems, such as van (volt), megy (ment), and jön (jött). A core group of irregulars (tesz, vesz, visz, lesz) drop their final consonant and attach -tt directly to a short vowel stem (e.g., tett, vett, vitt, lett), while eszik and iszik use a v-stem plus a link vowel (evett, ivott).

Note on 1st Person Singular: For all verbs in the past tense, the 1st person singular indefinite and definite forms are identical (e.g., vártam means both 'I waited' and 'I waited for it').

Note that the verb szokik is unique: its past form szokott usually functions as a present habitual ('usually does'). To say 'got used to,' use the prefixed megszoktam.