Past and Prospective Participles: Forms and Core Pattern

Hungarian has two important attributive participles beyond -ó/-ő. Forms in -t/-tt typically present an earlier event or its result—a megírt levél “the written letter”—while forms in -andó/-endő present an intended, necessary, or expected later event—a megírandó levél “the letter to be written.” These are non-finite modifiers, not tense forms: they do not conjugate for person, but they can preserve the base verb’s argument relationships. The usage page develops their meanings, and the contrast guide handles difficult choices.

Building the -t/-tt participle

The -t/-tt form is built from the verbal stem with the same broad stem and linking-vowel patterns seen in the finite past. Some stems take -t directly; others show a linking vowel and -tt. Prefixes remain attached in a neutral participial modifier.

The form itself does not agree with its head noun. Compare a megírt levél, a megírt levelek, and a megírt levelet: number and case appear on the noun, while megírt stays unchanged. English past participles are also invariant, but Hungarian places a rich modifier phrase before the noun.

Resultative and passive-like form are not the same as finite passive voice

With a transitive verb, the modified noun is commonly understood as the affected object: valaki megírta a levelet → a megírt levél. With a change-of-state or motion verb, it can correspond to the finite subject: a pohár eltört → az eltört pohár; a vendég megérkezett → a megérkezett vendég. This is why “passive participle” is only a partial label.

The agent can be expressed with által, especially in (formal) writing, but everyday Hungarian often omits it or replaces the participial phrase with a relative clause. Other dependents remain possible: tegnap elküldött retains time; kézzel írt retains means; a kiadónak elküldött retains a dative recipient. This is the verbal architecture inside the adjective-like modifier.

Some frequent forms have become ordinary adjectives: fáradt “tired,” nyitott “open; open-minded,” tanult “educated.” Their present meanings are not always calculated from a current verb phrase. Lexicalized forms must be learned separately.

Building the -andó/-endő participle

The prospective participle uses back-vowel -andó or front-vowel -endő. It usually modifies something that is to undergo a later, intended, required, or scheduled action.

Consonant and vowel length must remain intact: elküldött ends in doubled tt, while teendő ends in long ő, not short ö. In megvizsgálandó, back harmony selects -andó even though the prefix contains e: harmony follows the verbal stem’s established pattern.

Necessity, intention, and futurity

The label “future participle” is again only approximate. A holnap érkező vonat uses present -ő despite future time, while a kijavítandó hiba uses -andó because the error is presented as a required target for correction. The prospective suffix normally adds a modal component—“to be,” “needing to be,” “intended for”—rather than merely placing an event later.

The first head noun is an affected target under an obligation; the second is the active participant in a scheduled event. This is a participant-role contrast, not just a difference between past and future.

Prospective forms are productive chiefly with controllable transitive actions. Other patterns are more restricted and speaker-dependent, while certain forms are lexicalized. Teendő is both a participle and a common noun meaning “task”; jövendő “future; future one” is (literary) or elevated in many modern contexts. Do not manufacture a new -andó/-endő form whenever English says “will.”

Retaining arguments

The prospective participle can preserve recipients, locations, instruments, and an explicitly expressed agent. They precede the participle in the noun phrase.

Here az ügyfél által identifies the agent, péntekig supplies the deadline, and díj is the affected participant. This density is natural (formal) administrative style. In conversation, A díj, amelyet az ügyfélnek péntekig be kell fizetnie… is often easier to process.

Hungarian participles do not copy English participle agreement or tense, yet they preserve who does what to whom through cases and lexical argument structure. Personal infinitives display that participant relation with possessive-like endings; these adjectival participles usually display it through complements instead.

An agent can itself appear in a person-marked postpositional form. Általam, általad, általa, and általunk mean “by me, by you, by him/her,” and “by us.” That morphology belongs to által, not to the participle.

In által-unk el-készít-ett, the first-person plural ending identifies the preparers, while elkészített remains unchanged. Compare az általam elkészített terv “the plan prepared by me.” Hungarian thus preserves the participant relation without copying English subject-pronoun order or putting agreement directly on the adjectival participle.

Segmentation exercise

Identify prefix, stem, linking material, and participial suffix.

1. elküldött → el-küld-ött: prefix + stem + past-participial allomorph.
2. megírt → meg-ír-t: prefix + stem + -t.
3. kifestett → ki-fest-ett: prefix + stem + linking vowel and -tt.
4. elküldendő → el-küld-endő: prefix + front-harmony prospective suffix.
5. megvizsgálandó → meg-vizsgál-andó: prefix + back-vowel stem + prospective suffix.
6. teendő → irregular te- stem + -endő; learn it as a high-frequency exception.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• -t/-tt forms typically present an earlier event, affected participant, or result.
• Stem class determines -t versus linking-vowel -tt patterns; prefixes remain attached.
• -andó/-endő follows harmony and normally adds intention or necessity, not simple future time.
• Participles are invariant before the noun, while retained arguments keep their Hungarian cases.
• Common lexicalized forms such as teendő, fáradt, and nyitott require dictionary learning.