pystyvät

Pystyvät is a Finnish verb form meaning “they can” or “they are able to.” It is the third-person plural present tense (present indicative) of the verb pystyä, which means “to be able to” or “to can.” In use, pystyvät expresses ability or capability and is typically followed by another verb in its infinitive form, for example: He pystyvät tekemään sen. This construction conveys that the subject group is able to carry out the action.

The word follows standard Finnish subject-verb agreement: the suffix -vät marks the plural third person, while the stem pysty- carries the meaning of ability. The present tense of pystyä has other forms as well, such as pystyy (he/she is able to) and pystyn (I am able to). The past tense is pystyivät (they were able to), and the perfect form uses the past participle, as in he ovat pystyneet tekemään sen (they have been able to do it). The conditional mood uses pystyisivät (they would be able to).

Negation is formed with ei: he eivät pysty. Finnish also allows related forms such as pystyvä (capable, able) as an adjective or present participle, and pystyisi/pystyisivät for conditional mood. The verb functions as a modal-like auxiliary in many contexts, indicating ability rather than a completed action.

In summary, pystyvät is a common, semantically modal verb form used to indicate that a plural subject can perform an action, typically in combination with another verb in its infinitive form.