Pidänkö

Pidänkö is the yes–no question form of the Finnish verb pitää in the first person singular present tense. It combines pidän, meaning “I like” or “I keep,” with the question particle -kö/-kö, producing a question such as “Pidänkö kahvista?” which translates to “Do I like coffee?”

Grammatical notes: The -ko/-kö suffix is attached to the finite verb to form a question. The form of the suffix follows vowel harmony, resulting in -kö (with ö) after front vowels such as ä, as in Pidänkö. The rest of the sentence follows normal Finnish word order, and the pronoun minä is usually omitted because the verb ending already marks the subject. The object or complement (for example kahvista, tästä) remains in the partitive or other appropriate case.

Usage: Pidänkö is used when the speaker is uncertain about their own preference and seeks either self-reflection or an external opinion. It is common in conversations about taste, purchases, or choices. Examples include Pidänkö kahvista? (“Do I like coffee?”), Pidänkö tästä vaatteesta? (“Do I like this piece of clothing?”), or Pidänkö tästä elokuvasta? (“Do I like this movie?”). The phrase can stand alone as a short question or be part of a longer sentence.

Related forms: The particle is the same for other subjects with the appropriate verb form, e.g., Pidätkö? (“Do you like?”), Pidämmekö? (“Do we like?”). Intonation also marks questions in less formal speech when the particle is omitted, though -kö provides explicit grammatical indication of a question.

See also: Finnish question particles, Finnish verb pitää, Finnish grammar on question formation.