láthatunk

Láthatunk is a Hungarian verb form derived from látni, meaning "to see." It represents the first-person plural and expresses possibility or ability in the present (potential) mood. The form is created by adding the potential suffix -hat/-het to the stem and then attaching the personal ending -unk, yielding láthatunk for “we can see” or “we may see.”

In use, láthatunk marks that a seeing event is possible rather than definite. It appears in hypothetical or formal contexts and in questions about possibility. In everyday speech, speakers often use látunk (we see) for simple present statements and reserve láthatunk for discussing potential observation.

Related forms include láthatnánk, which expresses the conditional mood: “we could see.” This contrasts with the straightforward present látunk, which asserts actual seeing. The infinitive form related to the potential may be láthatni, though Hungarian learners commonly encounter and memorize the related paradigms more by practice than by rigid rules.

Examples:

- Láthatunk-e valamit a sötétben? (Can we see anything in the dark?)

- Ha van egy kis fény, láthatunk egy jelzést az égen. (If there’s a bit of light, we could see a signal in the sky.)

Láthatunk thus functions as a modal-like present form of látni, enabling discussion of possibility and capability in the first-person plural.