Sytyttää

Sytyttää is a Finnish verb meaning to light or ignite something that can burn, such as a fire, candle, stove, or lamp. It can also be used figuratively to mean to spark or inspire someone or something, for example enthusiasm, ideas, or action. The verb is transitive, typically taking a direct object, and appears in everyday and formal contexts alike, from cooking and heating to signaling and ignition of machinery.

In usage, sytyttää is often employed with objects like kynttilä (candle), nuotio (campfire), tulipesä or liesi (fireplace or stove), and with phrases describing turning on lights as in sytyttää valot. Typical sentences include: Minä sytytän kynttilän (I light a candle), Hän sytytti nuotion (He lit the campfire), Valot sytytettiin (The lights were turned on). The imperative form is sytytä, used as a command: Sytytä kynttilä! The past tense is sytytin (I lit), and passive forms such as sytytettiin are common in reporting actions.

Etymologically, sytyttää is related to the noun sytytys (ignition, kindling) and to other related forms such as sytyttäminen (lighting). The related intransitive verb syttyä means to catch fire or to ignite on its own, contrasting with sytyttää which denotes causing ignition.

See also is the antonymic or contrasting verb category, including other Finnish terms for lighting or starting fires, and the broader semantic field of ignition and illumination.