visszafordult

Visszafordult is a Hungarian intransitive verb meaning turned back or turned around. It is the past tense form of visszafordul, a compound verb created from the prefix vissza- (“back”) and the verb fordul (“to turn”). The form conveys that the subject changed direction and returned toward the original position.

In literal use, visszafordult describes a physical turning: a person or object changes course and moves back. Examples include a vehicle or train that reverses its direction, or a person who turns around after seeing something or someone. For instance, A vonat visszafordult a pályaudvar előtt. (The train turned back in front of the station.)

In non-literal, narrative contexts, visszafordult can also signal a change of course, but for more abstract reversals Hungarian frequently uses other expressions, such as visszafordítja or visszavonja a döntést, depending on the exact meaning. The verb is primarily used to describe physical reversal, while metaphorical shifts are often described with different verbs or phrases.

Conjugation notes: visszafordul is the infinitive; visszafordult is the third-person singular past tense. Other present and past forms follow the regular patterns of Hungarian prefix-verb combinations, for example visszafordulok, visszafordulsz, visszafordulunk, visszafordultunk, visszafordultak, and so on, adding the usual personal suffixes to the stem.

Etymology: the word combines vissza- (back) with fordul (to turn), a common Hungarian construction for directional prefixes that yield a new fused verb indicating reversal or turning back. Related forms include the noun visszafordulás (a turning back) and the verb visszafordulni (to turn back).