Finnish IRL
käy - two friends agreeing on a plan at a Finnish street corner and starting to separate, one already walking backwards through wet yellow leaves

käy

/kæy/

That works. That suits me. Fine. Käyks kuudelt? - Käy. That is the whole negotiation

Quick answer

Käy means it works, it suits, that's fine - used to accept a time, a place or a suggestion.

  • The question is käyks sulle? - "does that work for you?" - and the answer is simply käy.
  • Sopii does the same job and is interchangeable in most of these exchanges.

What käy means

Käy means that works. Someone proposes a time, you say käy, and it is agreed. That is the whole exchange.

Underneath it is käydä, which covers going and visiting - mä käyn kaupassa, but also running or working: kello käy, the clock runs; moottori käy, the engine is running. This use grows out of that one. The thing proposed is what runs, and it runs for you.

So käy is impersonal. There is no I in it. Something suits, and the person it suits appears in the allative: käyks sulle, does it suit you.

Why käy changed

The verb form is the same in both registers - käy is standard Finnish. What is spoken is the question ending: käykö sinulle in writing, käyks sulle in speech.

You will also hear sopiiks sulle, from sopia, to fit. The two verbs are close enough that most speakers use them interchangeably here.

How Finns actually use käy

Making arrangements, which is the whole point. Käyks kuudelt? - Käy. That exchange settles the majority of Finnish plans, and it is shorter than anything English offers.

As a check before deciding for someone: mä varaan pöydän seitsemäks, käyks se? - I'll book a table for seven, does that work?

In the negative it splits from sopii. Ei sovi means it does not fit the schedule. Ei käy means it will not do, closer to not happening, and related to ei käy päinsä. About a time it is neutral; about a request, a bare Ei käy is firm and final.

The literal senses are alive and worth keeping separate: käydä kaupassa is to go to the shop, käydä saunassa is to have a sauna, käydä kylässä is to visit.

käy in a sentence

  • - Käyks kuudelt? - Käy. "Does six work?" "Works for me." · written: - Käykö kuudelta? - Käy.
  • Mulle käy kumpi vaan. Either one works for me.
  • Ei käy, mulla on jo menoa. That doesn't work, I've already got something on.
käy - two colleagues either side of an office kitchen counter, one having proposed a time and the other nodding once
One word for that works, and it closes the matter.

käy in a conversation

Mennäänks huomenna kahville?
Käy. Monelt?
Käyks kaks?
Käy hyvin.

The mistake everyone makes with käy

Trying to conjugate it for yourself. It is not mä käyn when accepting a plan - that means "I visit". The plan is the subject: käy.

Missing that the person goes in the allative. Käyks sulle, not käyks sua.

Hearing ei käy as anger. It is the standard no, and it usually arrives with a reason.

Questions people ask about käy

What does käy mean in Finnish?

That it works or suits. Used on its own, it accepts a suggested time or plan.

What does käyks sulle mean?

"Does that work for you?" It is käykö sinulle in written Finnish, and the answer is simply käy.

Why is it sulle and not sua?

The verb takes the allative - the person something suits appears with -lle. Mulle käy, sulle käy, meille käy.

What is the difference between käy and sopii?

Very little in this use. Sopii comes from sopia, to fit, and sopiiks sulle is interchangeable with käyks sulle.

Is ei käy rude?

About a time, no - it is the plain way of saying that slot does not work, and it usually comes with a reason. About a request or a permission question, a bare Ei käy is firm: closer to "not happening" than to a soft decline.

mennään - two friends standing up from a café table at the same moment, one already pulling a coat on, melting snow outside the window
mennään written menemme "Let's go" and "we go" are the same word, and your textbook taught neither
katotaan - a woman in an office doorway waiting on an answer while the man at his desk keeps his eyes on the screen and lifts one hand in a vague maybe
katotaan written katsotaan Nothing is a plan here until someone names a time
ihan sama - a young man at a kitchen table lifting one shoulder at his partner's mother without looking up from his phone, rain on the window
ihan sama "Whatever" - and it lands harder than the translation suggests
anteeks - a young man squeezing past an older woman in a narrow Finnish supermarket aisle with one hand slightly raised, melting snow tracked across the floor
anteeks written anteeksi The most-used politeness word in the country, and the final letter falls off

Sources for käy

  1. VISK § 802 - Mennäänks meille, jooko, kai mä voin tulla Iso suomen kielioppi, Kotimaisten kielten keskus - The proposal-and-acceptance exchange this word belongs to, including the spoken question clitic in käyks.
  2. VISK § 1201 - answering with a verb or a particle Iso suomen kielioppi, Kotimaisten kielten keskus - Why the answer to käyks sulle is käy rather than joo - Finnish answers by echoing the verb.
  3. VISK § 1645 - what directives are Iso suomen kielioppi, Kotimaisten kielten keskus - The range of forms Finnish uses to propose and agree, of which this is one of the shortest.
  4. VISK § 144 - osaatsä, emmä, kuulittekste Iso suomen kielioppi, Kotimaisten kielten keskus - The -ks clitic that turns käykö into käyks.
  5. Kielitoimiston sanakirja: käydä, sopia Kotimaisten kielten keskus

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