pysyttelee

Pysyttelee is the third-person singular present form of the Finnish verb pysytellä, a frequentative or iterative variant of pysyä ("to stay" or "to remain"). The form pysyttelee commonly conveys a habitual, tentative, or low-intensity sense of staying — for example, "hän pysyttelee kotona" can imply that someone tends to stay at home or keeps to the house more often than not.

Etymology and grammar: pysytellä derives from the root pysä- / pysy- with the frequentative suffix -tellä, which creates verbs that indicate repeated or ongoing action. In standard Finnish conjugation pysyttelen (I), pysyttelee (he/she/it), pysyttelevät (they), and related forms follow regular patterns for verbs of this type. The nuance of repeated or habitual action distinguishes it from the simple verb pysyä.

Usage and register: pysyttelee is common in colloquial and neutral registers when describing habits, cautious movement, or social reticence. It can describe both physical staying in a place and behavioral tendencies (e.g., avoidance of social situations). Synonyms include pysyy (stays) for neutral statements and jääräpäisesti pysyttelee in more emphatic contexts. Related expressions include pysytellä poissa (to stay away) and pysytellä lähellä (to keep close).

Translation and examples: typical English renderings are "tends to stay," "keeps to oneself," or "stays around." Examples: "Hän pysyttelee syrjässä" (He/she tends to stay aside) and "Lemmikki pysyttelee lähellä omistajaa" (The pet tends to stay close to its owner).