-hat

• IPA^(key): [hɒt]

• Audio

  (file)

-hat

1. (potential suffix, added to verbs):

   ad (“to give”) → adhat (“may give, can give”)

   1. may, having the potential to do or be something (expressing possibility)

      A hosszan magára hagyott kutya ugathat, nyüszíthet, bepisilhet vagy rombolhat. ― A dog left alone for a long time may bark, whimper, wet itself, or destroy things.

      Synonym: lehet​/​meglehet​/​előfordulhat​/​megtörténhet​/​megeshet, hogy…

   2. may, can, being permitted, allowed, or enabled to (expressing permission)

      Ebbe a házba bemehet a kutya. ― The dog is allowed to enter this house.

      Ezt én nem írhatom alá helyetted. ― I cannot (= am not allowed to) sign it instead of you.

      Synonym: (with the logical subject in the dative) szabad

   3. can (expressing opportunity)

      Ennél a forrásnál ihatunk vizet és meguzsonnázhatunk. ― At this spring we can drink water and have a snack.

      Synonym: (the argument supplied with -ra/-re or in the infinitive) módja/lehetősége van

• (potential suffix) Harmonic variants:

  -hat is added to back-vowel verbs

  -het is added to front-vowel verbs

• To express can in the sense “to be able to”, see tud.

• -hatatlan
• -hatnék

• Appendix:Hungarian suffixes
• Category:Hungarian auxiliary verbs

From Proto-Samic *-ttëk.

-hat

1. Forms nouns from verbs, indicating where the action takes place.

   ‎njuovvat (“to butcher”) + ‎-hat → ‎njuovahat (“slaughterhouse”)

• This suffix triggers the weak grade on a preceding stressed syllable.