Kiinnittyvät

Kiinnittyvät is the third-person plural present tense form of the Finnish verb kiinnittyä, which means to attach, adhere, or become connected to something. Kiinnittyyä/kiinnittyä expresses a process in which the subject itself forms an attachment or adhesion, rather than something being attached to it by an external agent. The form kiinnittyvät therefore corresponds to “they adhere” or “they become attached.”

Usage and context

The verb is common in scientific, technical, and everyday language. In biology and materials science, it describes organisms or molecules that attach to surfaces, for example bacteria kiinnittyvät pintaan (adhere to a surface) or biofilms forming as microbes kiinnittyvät to surfaces. In social or abstract contexts, kiinnittyä can describe affiliation or loyalty, as in people kiinnittyvät arvoihin (adhere to values) or groups to which individuals kiinnittyvät emotionally.

Related forms

The base verb kiinnittyä has several related forms, including kiinnittyminen (the act of adhering, adhesion), kiinnittyvä (present participle/adjective form meaning “attaching” or “adherent”). The opposite concept is kiinnittäminen or kiinnitys, which refer to the act of attaching something to something else (transitive use).

Notes

Kiinnittyvät is intransitive in the sense that the subject undergoes adhesion or attachment. This distinguishes kiinnittyä from kiinnittää, which is transitive and means “to attach” something to something else. Examples should place the target of adhesion in the appropriate case, typically with the instrumental or illative/inessive forms depending on the sentence structure.