Kaipaillaan

Kaipaillaan is a Finnish verb form derived from kaipailla, meaning to miss or to long for. It is primarily the present passive form, used to describe that someone or something is being missed or longed for in an indefinite or general sense. In Finnish, the passive mood is used to present actions or states without specifying an agent; kaipaillaan thus often conveys a sense of shared or general longing rather than a specific subject performing the action.

Morphology: The form is created by adding the passive present suffix -aan/-ään to the verb stem kaipaill-, with consonant harmony producing -llaan. The subject is often omitted or indefinite: for example, 'Koti-ikävä kaipaillaan' or 'Ystävät ja perhe kaipaillaan.' The construction does not specify who is doing the longing, which is typical of Finnish passive.

Usage: Kaipaillaan appears in everyday language, literature and media to express nostalgia, longing or absence. It can carry emotional nuance ranging from gentle wistfulness to earnest yearning and can be used in impersonal statements as well as in dialogues. The form allows speakers to present a situation where longing is felt without naming the agent or exact subject responsible for the longing.

Examples: 'Koti-ikävä kaipaillaan.' (Homesickness is longed for.) 'Ystävät ja perhe kaipaillaan.' (Friends and family are missed.)

See also: kaipailla, Finnish grammar, Passive voice (Finnish).