Herättivät

Herättivät is a Finnish verb form, the past tense, third-person plural of the verb herättää. The root verb herättää means to wake someone up or to rouse, awaken, or evoke something, either literally or figuratively. The word is derived from the verb herätä (to wake up) with the causative suffix -ttää, and it belongs to the broader family of expressions around awakening and revival. The noun form related to the concept is herätys, meaning awakening or revival, which shares the same semantic field.

Usage and meaning

In everyday Finnish, herättivät can describe waking physical persons or things, but it is commonly used in a figurative sense to indicate that something aroused or provoked a response, interest, or emotion. It is frequently found in news, literature, and discourse to signal a reaction or consequence of events, statements, or actions. Examples: "Uutiset herättivät laajaa huomiota," meaning the news drew wide attention; "Keskustelu herätti vilkkaan reaktion," meaning the discussion provoked a strong reaction; "Muistot herättivät tunteita," meaning the memories stirred feelings.

Grammatical notes

Herättivät is the plural past tense form, corresponding to a plural subject (they woke up or they aroused). The verb is transitive and typically takes a direct object that denotes what is awakened or aroused, such as mielenkiinto (interest), tunteet (emotions), tai keskustelu (the discussion). The singular past form is herätty or herätti, depending on construction, but in standard usage, herättivät is used with plural subjects.

See also

Herättää, herätys, and related verbs and nominal forms in Finnish that express awakening or arousal.