pehmentyvät

Pehmentyvät is a Finnish verb form meaning “they soften” or “they become softened.” It is the present tense, third-person plural form of the verb pehmentyä, which denotes a change of state toward softness. The construction is commonly used when describing how materials, foods, or objects lose rigidity or moisture as a result of heat, humidity, handling, or other influences.

Grammatical notes: Pehmentyä is an intransitive verb, and pehmentyvät agrees with a plural subject. The form follows standard Finnish conjugation patterns for the -ntyä verbs, with the third-person plural present ending in -vät. In many contexts the emphasis is on the subject undergoing the softening process rather than on someone causing the change.

Etymology and related forms: The verb pehmentyä is built from the stem related to pehmeä (soft) with the derivational suffix -nty- to indicate a change of state, and the -ä infinitive ending. Related words include pehmeä (soft), pehmeys (softness), pehmentäminen (softening as a process), and pehmentynyt (softened).

Usage examples: Leivät pehmentyvät, kun ne lämmitetään. (The breads soften when warmed.) Kivet pehmentyvät kosteuden vaikutuksesta. (The rocks become softened due to moisture.) These examples illustrate how pehmentyvät describes a transition toward a softer condition in plural subjects.

See also: pehmeä, pehmeys, pehmentäminen, pehmentynyt, pehmentymä.