Károsíthatja

Károsíthatja is a Hungarian verb form derived from károsítani, meaning to harm or damage. It expresses possibility or potential consequence, translating roughly to “may harm” or “could harm” in English. It is used when the speaker indicates that an action could cause harm rather than stating that harm will definitely occur.

Morphology and form: In Hungarian, potential or optative mood is formed with the suffix -hat/-het. From the stem károsít-, the form károsíthat- is created, and the ending -ja marks the third-person singular form in this construction, yielding károsíthatja. The form is used with a third-person subject and can take an object as appropriate within the sentence.

Usage and nuance: károsíthatja appears in safety assessments, policy texts, legal language, and descriptive writing to express uncertain or contingent harm. It does not denote intent on the part of the subject; rather, it communicates a possible adverse outcome that depends on future events or conditions.

Examples:

- A döntés károsíthatja a környezetet. (The decision may harm the environment.)

- Az új szabály károsíthatja a kisvállalkozásokat. (The new rule could harm small businesses.)

- A kezelés károsíthatja a betegek egészségét. (The treatment might damage patients’ health.)

Related terms: károsítani (to harm), károsodás (damage), károsodó (harmful). The word is part of a broader Hungarian mood system that uses -hat/-het to express potential outcomes, and it can combine with other suffixes to align with case and definiteness in a sentence.