Pitkittyvät

Pitkittyvät is a Finnish verb form meaning to become prolonged or to extend in duration. It is the third-person plural present tense of the verb pitkittyä, which describes processes or conditions that are lengthening or continuing for a longer period.

Etymology and form: Pitkittyä is built from the root related to pitkä, meaning long, with the suffixes that form verbs signaling a change of state. Pitkittyvät is the present tense form used when the subject is plural. The corresponding singular present form is pitkittyy, and other related forms include the infinitive pitkittyä and the noun pitkittyminen (prolongation or lengthening). The word is a standard part of contemporary Finnish and commonly appears in formal writing as well as everyday speech.

Usage and context: Pitkittyvät is used to describe events, conditions, or processes that continue or worsen over time. Common contexts include weather forecasting (sadejaksot pitkittyvät – rain periods lengthen), medicine (oireet pitkittyvät – symptoms persist), and project management or politics (riidat pitkittyvät – disputes drag on). The term conveys duration rather than abrupt change, emphasizing a trend toward extended time.

See also: pitkittyminen (the process or act of becoming prolonged), pitkittyvä (prolonging; becoming extended), and related expressions describing duration and persistence.

Overall, pitkittyvät is a regular, widely used Finnish verb form for signaling that something is lasting longer than expected or shifting into a prolonged phase.