Keresete

Keresete is a Hungarian verbal form used primarily in conversational contexts to address someone directly when asking them to search for something. Derived from the infinitive keresni, meaning “to look for” or “to search,” the form combines the verb stem keres with the second‑person singular object suffix –ete, which indicates that the action is directed toward the listener. Grammatically, keresete functions as a deontic imperative expressing a request or command: “kerés‑ete” literally translates to “you are searching” but in practice is understood as “please search” or “you should find.”

The form is common in informal speech and written dialogue within literature, television scripts, and everyday communication. It is often paired with nouns or pronouns to specify what is to be found, such as “keresete a könyvet” (search for the book). In written Hungarian, it is rarely seen outside of dialogues, making it a marker of the spoken register. Keresete illustrates how Hungarian, as a highly agglutinative language, incorporates person‑specific suffixes to convey nuances of politeness and instruction. Its use underscores the language’s capacity to merge grammatical roles into compact verb forms, a feature that typifies many Hungarian expressions of direct address or request.