puhuu

Puhuu is a Finnish verb form that denotes the third-person singular present tense of the verb puhua, meaning to speak or to talk. In this form, it expresses that someone speaks or is speaking, as in he/she speaks.

In standard Finnish, each personal form of puhua is as follows: minä puhun, sinä puhut, hän puhuu, me puhumme, te puhutte, he puhuvat. The form puhuu is the present-tense ending used for the third person singular. Puhuu is written with a double 'u' because Finnish spelling preserves vowel length in this conjugation.

Usage notes include that Finnish often marks languages in the partitive case when used as an object of speaking, as in puhua suomea (to speak Finnish) or puhua englantia (to speak English). An example sentence is: Hän puhuu suomea. This means “He/She speaks Finnish.” Word order is relatively flexible, but the verb form puhuu will consistently agree with the subject in number and person.

Pronunciation is approximately /ˈpuhuː/ in standard Finnish, with a long 'u' sound on both the stem and the ending. The double 'u' reflects Finnish vowel length in this conjugation.

Etymology: Puhuu derives from the Finnish verb puhua, meaning to speak. The puhuu form is a regular present-tense inflection used for the third-person singular.

See also: puhua, Finnish verbs, Finnish grammar.