kysyivät

Kysyivät is a Finnish verb form meaning “they asked.” It is the past tense form (imperfect indicative) of the verb kysyä, which means “to ask.” The form is used with a third-person plural subject and describes an action completed in the past.

Morphology and forms: Kysyvät is the present third-person plural, while kysyivät is the past plural. The past plural is formed from the stem kysy- with the ending -ivät, following Finnish conjugation patterns. Related forms include kysyin (I asked), kysyit (you asked), kysyi (he/she asked), kysyimme (we asked), and kysyitte (you all asked).

Usage and function: Kysyivät is used in narrative, reporting, or description to indicate that multiple people asked something. The verb can take various objects in different cases depending on meaning. For example, it can take the partitive object when asking for something indefinite, as in kysyivät neuvoa (“they asked for advice”). It can also be followed by a clause, such as kysyivät, missä juna pysähtyy (“they asked where the train stops”).

Examples:

- He kysyivät neuvoa opettajalta. (They asked the teacher for advice.)

- Kysyivät, missä kahvila sijaitsee. (They asked where the cafe is located.)

- Kysyivät minulta, millainen hinta on. (They asked me what the price is.)

Notes: Kysyivät is the plural past form; its use contrasts with singular past forms like kysyi. The verb kysyä forms part of the larger Finnish verb system, with kysyä as the base verb and kysyivät as one of its common past-tense conjugations.