# meglátogathatnám



## NagyKiss

"Don Juan távozáskor azt mondta, *meglátogathatnám* valamikor a házában."

This is a verb, right - meglátogathatni? And it is in a conditional conjugation?

And it means... "I could visit somebody" or "Somebody is available for a visit from me"???

I found only "meglátogatható" in a dictionary.

Crazy!


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## Zsanna

Hello NagyKiss,

A clue: the conjugation of the verb (both in Russian and in Hungarian, as well as in a lot of other languages...) indicates who the subject is. The "m" indicates the 1st person Sing., so "I" is the person who is carrying out the action.
meglátogat -> pay a visit to somebody 
meglátogat_hat_ -> _can_ pay a visit to somebody
meglátogathat_na_ -> _could_ pay a visit to somebody (yes, -na, -ne is the indicator of the conditional)

And after this the conjugation can start (here referring to a direct object, so in obejctive conjug.): (I) meglátogathatnám, (you) meglátogathatnád, (he,she, it) meglátogathatná, etc.

From the quoted sentence we cannot tell whether DJ could visit _somebody_ (a particular person, he is thinking of) or a "you" (in formal conjugation!), i.e. the person he is talking to in that situation.


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## NagyKiss

Sorry for the mix-up with the terminology (conjugation and all that) and thanks for the explanation. I'm also curious why there is no "hogy" in that quote (azt mondta, hogy)?

As for the uncertainty of the quoted statement, I'm still not used to the fact that polite speech is conducted through 3rd person, it's so weird for me, so until you mentioned this, I didn't even realize that the statement was actually uncertain.

P.S. I also realized that maybe I don't understand the fine difference between these verbs:
meglátogatnám - I could pay a visit?
 meglátogathatnám - I could be able to pay a visit???
  I totally understand meglátogatható - someone is available for a visit. But if we are talking about the verb, does "-ható" actually add some extra meaning to it? Does it actually say something about the subject of the verb? Ability to pay a visit?


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## Olivier0

English language is confusing here, in fact
meglátogatnám = I would pay a visit to him / to you (formal),
meglátogathatnám = I would be able to / I could pay a visit to him / to you (formal).
Meglátogathat = can/may visit, and meglátogatható like all -ható words has a passive meaning: (something/someone) that can be visited, for instance a place that tourists can visit.
-- Olivier


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## francisgranada

NagyKiss said:


> Sorry for the mix-up with the terminology (conjugation and all that) and thanks for the explanation. I'm also curious why there is no "hogy" in that quote (azt mondta, hogy)?


This hogy can be often omitted. 



> P.S. I also realized that maybe I don't understand the fine difference between these verbs:
> meglátogatnám - I could pay a visit?
> meglátogathatnám - I could be able to pay a visit???



More precisely:
meglátogatnám - I should pay a visit - "conditional"
meglátogathatnám - I could pay a visit / I should be able to pay a visit - "conditional possibility"

Sorry, Olivier, azt hiszem kereszteztük egymást ...


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