tietäisit

Tietäisit is the second-person singular present conditional form of the Finnish verb tietää, meaning "to know." In English, it corresponds to "you would know." The present conditional in Finnish is formed by adding the suffix -isit to the verb stem; for tietää the stem is tietä-, producing tietäisit. Other persons follow the same pattern (minä tietäisin, hän tietäisi, me tietäisimme, te tietäisitte, he tietäisivät).

Usage of tietäisit centers on hypothetical situations, wishes, or polite requests. It appears in conditional clauses and in questions or statements framed as hypotheticals. Examples: "Jos tietäisit totuuden, tekisit toisin" (If you knew the truth, you would act differently), "Tietäisitkö, missä hän asuu?" (Would you know where he lives?), and "Tietäisitkö tämän?" (Would you know this?). The form is not used for stating actual knowledge; present knowledge is expressed with the indicative form tietää (tiedät).

Morphology notes include that tietäisit marks second person singular in the present conditional, while other persons have corresponding forms (minä tietäisin, hän tietäisi, te tietäisitte, etc.). The conditional mood is commonly used in Finnish to express hypothetical situations, polite requests, or softened statements, and it often appears in subordinate clauses beginning with jos or in question form.

See also: tietää, Finnish conditional mood, Finnish verbal morphology.