zártuk

Zártuk is the first-person plural past tense form of the Hungarian verb zárni, meaning to close. It indicates that the speaker and others completed the action of closing something. In English, it corresponds to “we closed” or “we shut.”

Morphology and usage: Zártuk is formed by adding the past tense marker -t and the 1st person plural ending -uk to the stem zár-, yielding zártuk. This form is typically used when the object being closed is definite and known from context, for example zártuk az ajtót, meaning “we closed the door.” When no explicit definite object is present, Hungarian can use other past forms, such as zártunk, but zártuk remains common in sentences where a specific object is referenced.

Remarks on meaning: The form is regular for verbs in the -ni class and appears in narratives, reports, and dialogues. It signals a completed action in the past involving the speaker and others. The presence of a definite object often clarifies who and what was closed.

Etymology: Zártuk derives from zárni (to close) with the standard Hungarian past definite suffix -tuk, applied to the stem zár-.

Examples:

- Zártuk az ajtót, mielőtt elindultunk. We closed the door before we left.

- Zártuk ki az ablakot, hogy ne jöjjön be a hideg. We shut the window to keep the cold out.