Ilaistuvat

Ilaistuvat is a Finnish verb form meaning “they become delighted” or “they are pleased.” It is the present tense, third-person plural form of the intransitive verb ilaistua, which describes a personal emotional response to a stimulus such as news, events, or gifts.

Grammatical notes: Ilaistua follows the standard Finnish verb conjugation pattern for verbs ending in -ua. The present tense forms are: minä ilaistun, sinä ilaistut, hän ilaistuu, me ilaistumme, te ilaistutte, he ilaistuvat. As a state verb, ilaistua does not take a direct object; the stimulus or cause is usually expressed with a clause or a noun phrase, e.g., He ilaistuivat lahjasta or He ilaistuivat uutisista.

Usage: The term is used to describe a positive emotional reaction. It can appear in everyday speech, literature, or journalism to convey that a group or multiple people experienced joy or pleasure in response to something. The form ilaistuvat specifically conveys that multiple subjects are experiencing delight in the present.

Examples:

- He ilaistuivat lahjasta.

- He ilaistuivat uutisista.

Etymology: The verb ilaistua is built from the noun ilo (joy) with derivational affixes; ilaistuvat shares the same root with person-specific endings. The word situates a moment of internal happiness rather than an outward action.

See also: Ilo (joy); ilaistu- as a semantic family of Finnish verbs describing emotional states.

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