kehotusteet

Kehotusteet is a Finnish linguistic term referring to forms and expressions used for commands, requests, invitations and exhortations — broadly the imperative and related hortative uses. In Finnish grammar these functions are realized through distinct verb forms, particles and periphrastic constructions that signal different degrees of force, politeness and participant orientation.

The basic affirmative imperative addresses the second person: singular examples are formed from the verb stem (puhu! "speak!", tule! "come!") and the plural typically adds -kaa/-kää (puhukaa!, tulkaa!). The negative imperative uses the negative particle älä for singular and älkää for plural, followed by a verb form with the interrogative particle -ko/-kö (älä puhu!, älkää puhuko!). First-person plural hortatives ("let's...") commonly appear as constructions like mennään or tehdään and invite collective action.

Finnish also expresses softer requests and politeness through the conditional or interrogative conditional (voisitko "could you...?") and by modulating word order and intonation. Passive and jussive-like forms (e.g., puhuttakoon) occur in more formal or impersonal directives, often in official or ritual contexts.

Functionally, kehotusteet cover a spectrum from direct orders to polite appeals and collective invitations. Their choice depends on social context, speaker–addressee relationships and desired politeness level, making them an important area of study in Finnish morphology, syntax and pragmatics.