Sytyttivät

Sytyttivät is the third-person plural past tense form of the Finnish verb sytyttää, meaning to light or ignite. It is used when the subject of the sentence is plural and the action of lighting has already occurred. The corresponding singular past tense forms are sytytti (he/she lit) and sytytin (I lit).

Grammar and usage notes: sytyttää is a transitive verb that takes a direct object representing what is lit, such as kynttilät (candles) or nuotio (campfire). The past tense form sytyttivät attaches to the plural subject and indicates a completed lighting action. Related forms include the past participle sytyttänyt (having lit) and the noun sytytys (ignition or lighting). In Finnish, the object of sytyttää is typically in the genitive or partitive, depending on emphasis and sentence structure.

Examples:

- He sytyttivät nuotion. (They lit the campfire.)

- He sytyttivät kynttilät pöydälle. (They lit the candles on the table.)

- Polttoaineen pato sytytti tulen, ja valot sytyttivät koko huoneen. (The fuel leak ignited the fire, and the lights lit up the room.)

See also:

- sytyttää and related verbs in Finnish verb paradigms

- syttyä, the intransitive form meaning to catch fire or ignite itself

In summary, sytyttivät is a standard Finnish past-tense form used when multiple subjects perform the act of lighting something, common in everyday language, narration, and reporting.