Pysäytä

Pysäytä is a Finnish verb form meaning "stop" or "halt" and is used as the second-person singular imperative of pysäyttää, the transitive verb “to stop something.” It is commonly employed to command or request someone to stop an action, halt a movement, or pause a process.

Grammatically, pysäytä is the imperative mood with the stem pysäytä-. The corresponding plural imperative is pysäyttäkää, meaning "you (plural) stop." Related forms include pysäytän (I stop) and pysäytät (you stop) in the present indicative. The verb pysäyttää is causative, meaning it stops something else, whereas pysähtyä means “to stop oneself” and is intransitive. The imperative form can be combined with objects: pysäytä auto (stop the car), pysäytä kone (stop the machine).

Usage notes and examples: pysäytä can be quite direct or forceful in everyday speech, so softening phrasing may be preferred in polite contexts. It appears in spoken language, written instructions, traffic-related signs, and emergency commands. It is also used in computing contexts to instruct pausing a program or process, for example, pysäytä ohjelma (stop the program).

Related terms include pysäytys, a noun meaning a stop or halt, and pysäyttämisen, the noun form for the act of stopping. Phrases with pysäytä often rely on context to convey urgency, order, or instruction, rather than expressing a mood or permission.