Katselee

Katselee is a Finnish verb form meaning “looks at” or “is looking at,” derived from the infinitive katsella, which means to look at or to watch. Katselee is the third-person singular present indicative form, used with a singular subject such as hän. In Finnish, the present tense does not encode progressive aspect, so katselee can express both habitual and ongoing action simply as “looks at.”

Usage and meaning

The form is commonly used to describe someone directing their gaze toward a person or object. It often appears with a direct object in the partitive case when the action is ongoing or not completed, for example: Hän katselee ikkunasta ulos (He looks out of the window). It can also describe watching media or scenes, as in Hän katselee televisiota (She watches television). The surrounding context and case endings convey nuances of duration, attention, or intention.

Relation to other forms

Katselee is a specific present-tense form of the verb katsella, the infinitive being katsella (to look at, to watch). Finnish verbs are conjugated across persons and numbers; katselee is the form used with a singular third-person subject. The root meaning relates to gaze, attention, and visual observation, with kokoonpanossa (glance-related) lexical family including the noun katse (glance, gaze).

Notes

As with many Finnish verbs, katselee functions across everyday language, narrative description, and descriptive writing to convey immediate visual attention or scrutiny. It is most informative when paired with a relevant object or direction, clarifying what is being looked at.