Finnish language blog

Lähteä means “to leave” or “to go (away)”.

Sometimes “to go” is more natural in English: “lähden kalaan” / “I’ll go fishing” (“menen kalaan” is also possible here).

At railway stations you can see signs saying “lähtevät junat” meaning “departures”. The noun is “lähtö” (a departure), and “lähtöruutu” means the starting point, square one.

Lähettää means literally “to make something to leave”, so it means “to send”. “Lähetän kirjeen ulkomaille” / “I’m sending a letter abroad”.

Lähde is a place, where the water is coming from, a spring or a fountain. It can be used also in an abstract sense, as “origin” or “source”

Kävellä means “to walk” and it comes from the verb “käydä” which has basically the same meaning, but it has some other spesific uses. For example: “Sinun pitäisi käydä lääkärissä.” / “You should go to the doctor.”

It’s also a part if idioms like “to be okay with”, for example “maanantai käy minulle” / “Monday is ok for me.” (see also the article about “sopia”), or “to happen“. For example, “mietin, miten minulle vielä käy” “I wonder what will happen to me.”

When in English “engine runs“, in Finnish it “walks”. For example: “Moottori käy tasaisesti.” / “The engine runs steadily.”

-ttää -suffix has the meaning, “make somebody to do something”, for example syödä -> syöttää = to eat -> to feed (= “to make somebody to eat”). In the similar fashion, you’ll get a new verb from “käydä”, namely “käyttää”. Keep in mind that things that work smoothly, “walk” in Finnish. That’s why käyttää means “to use”.

Osaatko käyttää tietokonetta? / Do you know how to use a computer?

Tarjota means “to offer”, fox example “Tarjosin hänelle apua” / “I offered him help.” In Finnish, if you are giving something for free, you are “offering” it, for example: “Otetaan oluet, minä tarjoan.” / “Let’s have beers, I’m buying. “

A waiter in Finnish isn’t a person who waits, but “offers”, that’s why waiter = tarjoilija. Waitress is called “tarjoilijatar“, but it sounds really old fashioned. The waiter often brings you a tray, which is “tarjotin” in Finnish.

In sales, an offer = “tarjous“. It can also mean same as “alennus” = discount. For example: “Tämä paita oli halpa, koska se oli tarjouksessa” / “This shirt was inexpensive, because it was at a discount”.

Sopia means “to fit” or also to “to suit” both in concrete and abstract sense.

“Sopiiko paita sinulle?” “Onko se sopiva?” /
“Does the shirt fit to you? Is it suitable?”
“Tuo puku sopii sinulle hyvin.” /
“That suit suits you well.”

It can refer to other suitable/unsuitable things as well, not only clothes:

“Sopiiko perjantai sinulle?” / “Does Friday suit you?” (lit. “for you”)

If something “suits you” then you “agree to it”, that’s why “sopia” means also “to agree” in Finnish.

Teidän pitää sopia riitanne! / “you must come to an agreement.”

The noun derived from it is “sopimus“, which means any kind of agreement, pact, treaty or contract (written or oral).
Allekirjoitin vuokrasopimuksen vuokranantajan kanssa. /
I signed a rental contract with my landlord.

Pariisin rauhansopimus päätti toisen maailmansodan./
The Paris Peace Treaty concluded the Second World War.

Haastaa is an old fashined word meaning “to talk” or “to chat”. It’s rarely used in it’s original meaning, but it’s still included in another verb “haastatella” = “to interview” (lit. ~ “make someone to chat” ).

“Toimittaja haastatteli poliitikkoa.” “The journalist interviewed the politician.”

In modern Finnish, “haastaa” has a spesific meaning “to challenge”, for example “Haastan sinut kaksintaisteluun!” “I challenge you to a duel!”

“Haastava” is an adjective and it means “challenging”, for example, “Kisa oli hyvin haastava” “The race was very challenging.”. The noun derived from “haastaa” is “haaste“, “a challenge”. “Otan kaikki vaikeudet haasteena” / “I will take all the difficulties as a challenge”.

In Finnish, to “sue somebody” is literarily “to challenge somebody into court” = “haastaa oikeuteen“. (see the article for “oikeus“)