találtam

Találtam is the first‑person singular past tense form of the Hungarian verb találni, meaning to find. It translates to I found in English and is commonly used to report a past event in which the speaker discovered or located something. The form can appear with a direct object, as in találtam egy kulcsot (I found a key), or more generally when the speaker recalls a past finding.

Grammatical notes and forms:

Találtam is part of the simple past tense in Hungarian. It is formed from the stem talál- with a past tense suffix, yielding találtam. Other persons are formed with the same stem plus appropriate personal endings: találtad (you found), talált (he/she found), találtuk (we found), találtátok (you all found), találtak (they found). Hungarian also distinguishes definite and indefinite direct objects in past tense conjugations, but találtam is widely used in ordinary speech to convey a past finding even when the object is definite or indefinite.

Usage and nuance:

Találtam is used for a straightforward past narrative or personal statement of discovery. It often appears in diary entries, conversations, journalistic reporting, and storytelling. While related forms exist, such as megtalálni (to manage to find) or megtaláltam (I found after searching), találtam remains the basic past form you would use for a simple “I found.”

In summary, találtam is the standard 1st person singular past tense of találni, employed to express that the speaker found something in the past.