Pääsetkö

Pääsetkö is a Finnish question form derived from the verb päästä, meaning to be able to get through, reach, or enter. It is used to ask someone whether they can do or achieve something, or whether they can reach a place or state, and it is common in everyday spoken Finnish.

Grammatically, pääset is the second-person singular present indicative of päästä, and the suffix -kö is a question particle that turns a statement into a yes-or-no question. The phrase can be completed with a variety of complements, for example with a location, an action, or a goal: Pääsetkö sisään? (Are you able to come in?), Pääsetkö mukaan? (Can you come along?), Pääsetkö tekemään tämän? (Can you manage to do this?).

Usage and nuance: Pääsetkö is typically used in informal or conversational contexts. It conveys permission, ability, or possibility, and can be used to check someone’s readiness or capability. In more formal writing, speakers might use alternatives such as voisitko, kykenisitkö, or could you rephrase the sentence to a more neutral structure.

Variant forms include other persons and tenses, such as pääsekseni (I wonder if I can get through) or pääsetkö jatkamaan? (Can you continue?). The expression is standard Finnish and is widely understood across dialects, with the everyday feel of a direct question about capacity or access rather than a literal instruction.

See also: päästä (to get through, to reach, to enter), question particles in Finnish (kö/ko).