kyseessä

Kyseessä is a Finnish expression used to denote the matter at hand or the subject under discussion. It derives from the noun kyse, meaning matter or case, combined with the inessive suffix -ssä to form the fixed phrase kyseessä, literally “in the matter.” The construction is most commonly seen in the sentence-initial form Kyseessä on …, or in attributive phrases such as kyseessä oleva ….

In practice, kyseessä functions to identify what is being talked about. For example, Kyseessä on viimevuotinen sopimus means “The matter in question is the contract from last year.” The form can be inflected to modify nouns, as in kyseessä oleva asia (“the matter in question”) or used in its bare form with olla or other predicates. It is suitable for both formal and informal contexts, and is frequent in journalism, official communication, and academic writing.

Usage notes and alternatives: kyseessä often appears in phrases that clarify focus or scope, and it can be negated as Ei ole kyse rahasta (“It isn’t about money”). It should not be confused with similar-looking expressions such as kysymys or kysymykseen, which have different meanings and grammatical functions. The expression is versatile for indicating the central topic, issue, or object of discussion in a sentence or paragraph.