selittäisitkö

Selittäisitkö is the second-person singular conditional form of the Finnish verb selittää, combined with the question particle -ko. It translates roughly to “Would you explain…?” and is used to make a polite request for an explanation.

Morphology and formation: The verb selittää means “to explain.” In the conditional mood it appears as selittäisi- or later forms such as selittäisit in the second person singular. To turn a statement into a question, Finnish often adds the question particle -ko/-kö to the relevant verb form; with selittäisit, the form becomes selittäisitko. This construction signals politeness and tentativeness, and it is appropriate in both spoken and written Finnish.

Usage and nuance: Selittäisitkö is commonly used when the speaker wants someone to provide clarification or reasoning without sounding imperative. It can introduce a request in introduction or in the middle of a discussion. The tone is courteous and somewhat tentative, more formal than a direct imperatival form like Selitä. In practice, speakers may choose synonyms such as Voisitko selittää? (“Could you explain?”) which convey a similar meaning with a slightly different nuance.

Examples:

- Selittäisitkö, miksi koe epäonnistui? (Would you explain why the test failed?)

- Selittäisitko, miten tämä ratkaisu toimii? (Would you explain how this solution works?)

See also: In Finnish, other polite request forms include voisitko + infinitive (could you), and related question forms using -ko/-kö with various verb stems.