Nyithatnak

Nyithatnak is a Hungarian verb form used to express possibility or permission for a plural subject. It translates roughly as “they may open” or “they could open.” The form is built from the verb nyit, meaning “to open,” combined with the potential mood suffix -hat/-het and the plural ending -nak/-nek, yielding nyithatnak for the third-person plural.

In Hungarian grammar, the potential mood (the -hat/-het suffix) conveys possibility rather than certainty. Nyithatnak thus appears in sentences describing what several agents might do under certain conditions or constraints. It is one part of the broader system of mood and tense in Hungarian verb conjugation, and it interacts with the usual word order and particles used to express modality.

Nyithatnak is a inflected form rather than a standalone lexical entry; it can be generated from the same verb stem to form other person-number moods and numbers by applying the same pattern with different endings. In practice, speakers may choose alternative constructions to express permission or possibility, depending on nuance, formality, and context.

Related concepts include the infinitive nyitni (to open) and other conjugated forms representing possibility or modality in Hungarian. The form nyithatnak is of particular interest in studies of Hungarian mood, verb conjugation, and how modal meaning is encoded in finite verbs.