hívta

hívta is the third-person singular past definite form of the Hungarian verb hívni, which means to call or to invite. In standard Hungarian, past tense has two main variants depending on whether the direct object is definite. The past definite form is built with the stem plus the suffix -ta/-te and often accompanies a definite object; the past indefinite form uses -ott/-ett and does not require a definite object.

As an example: Ő hívta a barátját, meaning “he called his friend” with a definite object. By contrast, Ő hívott valakit would be used when the object is indefinite, meaning “he called someone.” This distinction is a characteristic feature of Hungarian verb conjugation and affects how past actions are expressed depending on how definite the object is.

In addition to meaning “to call” in the sense of summoning or naming, hívni and its past forms can convey inviting someone or calling by name. When the sense is specifically to phone someone, the verb felhívni is more common in Hungarian; hívni can still be used in broader contexts or informal speech to refer to calling by phone.

See also: hívni, felhívni, hívás, telefonhívás.