pyydän

Pyydän is a Finnish verb meaning to ask or to request. It is the first-person singular present tense form of the verb pyytää, which covers asking someone to do something, requesting something, or asking for permission. The phrase pyydän anteeksi literally means I ask for forgiveness, illustrating its use in apologies.

Infinitive and basic forms: The infinitive is pyytää. In the present indicative, the short forms are: minä pyydän, sinä pyydät, hän pyytää, me pyydämme, te pyydätte, he pyytävät. The past tense is formed as minä pyysin, sinä pyysit, hän pyysi, me pyysimme, te pyysitte, he pyysivät. The conditional is pyytäisin (I would ask), and the imperative singular is pyydä (ask!), with other imperatives formed similarly for plural and polite usage.

Usage notes: Pyydää is transitive and used when requesting something concrete or abstract, or when asking someone to do something. It is common in phrases like pyytää apua (to ask for help), pyytää lupaa (to ask for permission), and pyytää, että joku tulisi (to ask that someone come). It is distinct from kysyä, which more narrowly means to ask a question rather than to request or invite action.

Forms and nuance: The verb often pairs with nouns in the partitive or with clauses introduced by että. It can carry polite or formal nuance, especially in requests or apologies, and appears in both everyday speech and formal language.

See also: Finnish verbs, verb conjugation, polarities of request forms.