szólhat

Szólhat is a Hungarian verb form that expresses possibility or permission. It is created by attaching the modal suffix -hat/-het to a verb stem, yielding a form that indicates that the action of the base verb may occur. In this sense szólhat belongs to the class of Hungarian potential or optative forms, which are used to discuss what can or may happen rather than what definitely does.

The modal suffix -hat/-het is productive across many verbs, so szólhat can be formed from verbs such as írhat (to write), mondhat (to say), vagy mehet (to go), among others. The exact meaning of szólhat depends on the base verb and the surrounding context: it generally conveys possibility, speculation, or permission rather than certainty. For example, from a base verb meaning “to say,” szólhat would convey “he may say” or “it could be said,” while with a base meaning “to go” it would convey “he may go” or “he could go.”

In usage, szólhat appears in both spoken and written Hungarian to express provisional statements, proposals, or conditional permissions. It can be negated with nem szólhat to indicate that something may not be possible or allowed. Like other modal forms, it is inflected for subject and, when necessary, for person and number, yielding forms such as szólhatok, szólhatsz, szólhatunk, szólhattok, szólhatnak, depending on the subject.

Szólhat may also be encountered as a stylistic or titular element in various contexts, though it is primarily described as a grammatical form rather than a fixed proper noun. The term highlights how Hungarian uses modal suffixes to express potentiality across the verb system.