Viipyä

Viipyä is a Finnish verb meaning to stay longer than intended or to linger. It describes remaining in a place or delaying action, often with a sense of a relaxed or voluntary prolongation rather than forced stay.

Usage and nuance: Viipyä is used for people and, more broadly, for things that remain in a place or time. It conveys a gradual, sometimes leisurely, extension of a stay. By contrast, viivähtää tends to imply a brief or momentary pause, whereas viipyä can suggest a more extended or contemplative lingering.

Grammatical notes: Viipyä is an intransitive, native Finnish verb ending in -ä. It forms standard Finnish tenses and moods like other -ä verbs, though exact conjugations vary by person and tense. Common collocations include viipyä kaupungissa, viipyä kahvilassa, or viipyä liikaa, with the sense of staying or lingering in the mentioned location or for an excessive duration.

Examples:

- Hän viipyi kahvilassa pitkään. (He lingered in the café for a long time.)

- Me viivyimme kaupungissa koko päivän. (We stayed in the city all day.)

- Hän viipyi siellä vielä hetken ennen lähtöä. (He lingered there for a moment before leaving.)

Etymology and related forms: Viipyä is a native Finnish verb with cognates in related Finnic languages through its historical roots. Related terms include viivähtää (to pause briefly) and viipyilevä/viipyily (lingering, lingering quality).

See also: viivähtää, viipyilevä, viipyily.