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Learn Hardcore Hungarian: Egy héttel ezelőtt találkoztunk. - We met a week ago.

Hardcore Hungarian
/Starting a balcony herb garden
/Egy héttel ezelőtt találkoztunk.

Egy héttel ezelőtt találkoztunk.

Word

Egy héttel ezelőtt találkoztunk.

Meaning

We met a week ago.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Hungarian

Lesson

Starting a balcony herb garden

Breakdown of Egy héttel ezelőtt találkoztunk.

ago; before this

Questions & Answers about Egy héttel ezelőtt találkoztunk.

Why is it héttel and not just hét?

Because Hungarian uses the suffix -val / -vel after a time expression with ezelőtt to mean ago.

So the pattern is:

[amount of time] + -val/-vel + ezelőtt

Examples:

egy nappal ezelőtt = a day ago
két hónappal ezelőtt = two months ago
egy héttel ezelőtt = a week ago

In this sentence, hét becomes héttel.

Why does -vel turn into -tel in héttel?

This is because of assimilation, which is very common in Hungarian.

The basic suffix is -val / -vel, but if the word ends in a consonant, the v often disappears and the first consonant of the suffix copies the final consonant of the word.

So:

hét + vel → héttel
nap + val → nappal
hónap + val → hónappal

So héttel is not irregular in meaning; it is just the normal sound/spelling change.

What exactly does ezelőtt mean?

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Ezelőtt means before this or, more naturally in English, ago.

In modern everyday Hungarian, after a time expression, it is commonly translated as ago:

egy órával ezelőtt = an hour ago
két évvel ezelőtt = two years ago

So in this sentence, egy héttel ezelőtt functions as one unit meaning a week ago.

Does egy here mean one or a?

It can feel like either, depending on how literally you want to analyze it.

In this sentence, egy héttel ezelőtt is best understood as a week ago, although literally it is also one week ago.

Hungarian egy can mean:

the number one
the article-like idea a/an in some contexts

Here, English usually says a week ago, but Hungarian still uses egy.

What does találkoztunk mean grammatically?

Találkoztunk is the past tense, first person plural form of találkozni.

Breakdown:

találkozni = to meet
találkoz- = verb stem
-t- = past tense marker
-unk = we

So találkoztunk = we met

More precisely, találkozni usually means to meet each other / to meet with someone, not to find someone.

Why isn’t there a word for we in the sentence?

Because Hungarian usually does not need subject pronouns when the verb ending already shows the subject.

Here, -unk in találkoztunk already tells you the subject is we.

So:

találkoztunk = we met
mi találkoztunk would add emphasis, like we were the ones who met

This pronoun-dropping is very normal in Hungarian.

Does találkozni mean the same as English to meet in all cases?

Not quite.

Találkozni usually means:

to meet someone
to run into someone
to get together with someone

It is often used with another person marked by -val / -vel:

Találkoztunk Péterrel. = We met Peter.
Holnap találkozom a barátommal. = I’m meeting my friend tomorrow.

It is not the same as English meet in the sense of be introduced to in every situation, though it can overlap.

Also, it is not the same as find.
For find, Hungarian usually uses találni.

Why is there no person mentioned after találkoztunk?

Because Hungarian can leave it unstated if it is already clear from context.

So this sentence simply says we met / we met each other / we got together, depending on context.

If you want to say who was involved, Hungarian often adds a person with -val / -vel:

Egy héttel ezelőtt találkoztunk Annával. = We met Anna a week ago.
Egy héttel ezelőtt találkoztam vele. = I met her/him a week ago.

Can the word order be changed?

Yes. Hungarian word order is flexible, and changing it often changes the focus or emphasis, not the basic meaning.

Your sentence:

Egy héttel ezelőtt találkoztunk.

This naturally emphasizes the time frame: A week ago, we met.

You could also say:

Találkoztunk egy héttel ezelőtt.

That is also correct and may sound a bit more neutral in some contexts: We met a week ago.

So both are possible, but the original sentence gives a bit more prominence to when it happened.

Is egy héttel ezelőtt the only way to say a week ago?

No. Another very common way is:

egy hete

So:

Egy héttel ezelőtt találkoztunk.
Egy hete találkoztunk.

Both can mean We met a week ago.

A rough difference:

egy héttel ezelőtt is a bit more explicit and literal
egy hete is very natural and common in everyday speech

You will hear both.

Why is there a double t in héttel?

Because the word already ends in t, and the suffix assimilates to that consonant.

So historically / structurally:

hét + vel
the v disappears
the suffix takes on the t
result: héttel

The double tt shows that change in spelling.

Is ezelőtt placed after the whole time expression on purpose?

Yes. In Hungarian, ezelőtt normally comes after the time phrase.

So the structure is:

egy perccel ezelőtt = a minute ago
három nappal ezelőtt = three days ago
öt évvel ezelőtt = five years ago

You do not normally place ezelőtt before the time expression in this meaning.

How would this sentence change in the present or future?

The time phrase would need to change, because ezelőtt refers to the past.

Examples:

Most találkozunk. = We are meeting now.
Holnap találkozunk. = We are meeting tomorrow.
Egy hét múlva találkozunk. = We will meet in a week.

Notice the contrast:

egy héttel ezelőtt = a week ago
egy hét múlva = in a week

So ezelőtt is for looking backward in time, while múlva is for looking forward.

Is the accent in hét important?

Yes. In Hungarian, accents are part of the spelling and can change pronunciation and sometimes meaning.

e and é are different vowels
hét has a long é

So you should write and pronounce it as hét, not het.

In Hungarian, vowel length matters, so it is worth paying attention to accents from the beginning.

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