Kallistui

Kallistui is the third-person singular past tense form of the Finnish verb kallistua, which means to lean, tilt, or incline. The term can describe a physical tilting motion as well as a figurative inclination toward a direction, attitude, or choice. In everyday Finnish, kallistua is used for both concrete movements and metaphorical tendencies, with kallistui indicating that someone or something leaned or inclined in the past.

In practical use, kallistua covers a range of contexts. Physically, it can describe a person or object tilting to one side: for example, Laiva kallistui oikealle myrskyn vuoksi (The ship tilted to the right because of the storm). A person may also lean forward or to the side: Hän kallistui eteenpäin kuullakseen paremmin (She leaned forward to hear more clearly). Figuratively, it expresses an inclination or tendency toward a course of action or set of values: Hän kallistuu kohti parempia arvoja (She/He is inclined toward better values).

Grammatically, kallistua is an intransitive verb, with forms that align with the subject. The past tense form kallistui is used for third-person singular subjects, while other forms follow standard Finnish conjugation patterns: minä kallistuin (I leaned), sinä kallistuit (you leaned), me kallistuimme (we leaned), etc. The past participle is kallistunut, used in perfect tenses.

Kallistui thus serves as a compact way to express both physical tilting and inward inclination in narrative and description.