Verbs like teettää and korjauttaa – Teettoverbit
Verbs like teettää and korjauttaa express that you are making someone else do an action. While korjata “to fix”, the verb korjauttaa means “to have fixed, to make someone else fix something”. In Finnish, you call a verb like this a teettoverbi, which is a type of transitive verb. In English, I’ve come across the term “curative causatives”. Read more about transitivity!
Some of these verbs have other meanings too, but the focus is on their causative meanings.
1. Verbs List
| Base verb | English | Causative | English example |
|---|---|---|---|
| ajaa | to shave | ajattaa | having the barber shave your beard |
| ampua | to shoot | ammuttaa | having the executioner shoot criminals |
| arvioida | to assess | arvioittaa | having a specialist assess something |
| hakata | to chop | hakkauttaa | having a lumberjack chop trees down |
| hakea | to go get | haettaa | having someone go get a doctor |
| harjoitella | to practice | harjoituttaa | making students practice for a play |
| hieroa | to rub | hierottaa | having a masseuse give you a massage |
| hinata | to tow | hinauttaa | having your car towed |
| hioa | to hone | hiottaa | having your knives sharpened |
| hirttää | to hang | hirtättää | having the executioner hang someone |
| hoitaa | to take care | hoidattaa | having an employee take care of things |
| huoltaa | to service | huollattaa | having your car serviced |
| hyväksyä | to approve | hyväksyttää | having someone approve of something |
| laittaa | to put | laitattaa | having a barber put your hair up |
| juosta | to run | juoksuttaa | making other people run |
| kaivaa | to dig | kaivattaa | having a ditch dug |
| kaivertaa | to engrave | kaiverruttaa | having someone engrave a ring |
| kaataa | to fell | kaadattaa | having a forest felled |
| kammata | to comb | kampauttaa | having a hairdresser comb your hair |
| kantaa | to carry | kannattaa | having someone carry your stuff |
| katsastaa | to inspect | katsastuttaa | having your car inspected |
| kehittää | to develop | kehityttää | having your pictures developed |
| kirjoittaa | to write | kirjoituttaa | having someone write your biography |
| korjata | to fix | korjauttaa | having your car fixed |
| kuljettaa | to transport | kuljetuttaa | having a firm move your stuff for you |
| kuvata | to photograph | kuvauttaa | having a professional photograph you |
| kääntää | to translate | käännättää | having a translator translate a book |
| laulaa | to sing | laulattaa | making the students sing |
| leikata | to cut | leikkauttaa | having a barber cut your hair |
| leimata | to stamp | leimauttaa | having an official put a stamp on papers |
| lukea | to read | luettaa | making students read out loud |
| maalata | to paint | maalauttaa | having an artist paint your portrait |
| maistaa | to taste | maistattaa | having clients taste different wines |
| marssia | to march | marssittaa | having soldiers march to the front |
| murhata | to murder | murhauttaa | having your foes murdered |
| muuttaa | to exchange | muutattaa | having someone change your tires |
| nostaa | to lift | nostattaa | having movers lift your piano |
| odottaa | to wait | odotuttaa | making others wait |
| ommella | to sew | ompeluttaa | having a dressmaker sew your clothes |
| ostaa | to buy | ostattaa | having someone buy alcohol for you |
| ottaa | to take | otattaa | having your picture taken |
| painaa | to print | painattaa | having a book printed for you |
| pukea | to dress | puettaa | having your mom dress you |
| pestä | to wash | pesettää | having your clothes washed |
| piirtää | to draw | piirrättää | having an artist draw your picture |
| poistaa | to remove | poistattaa | to have a stain removed |
| puhdistaa | to clean | puhdistuttaa | having a specialist clean something |
| purkaa | to unload | purattaa | having movers unload the cargo |
| rakentaa | to build | rakennuttaa | having a firm build the house |
| siirtää | to transfer | siirrättää | having the movers move the piano |
| silittää | to iron | silityttää | having a cleaner iron your clothes |
| sitoa | to bind | sidottaa | having someone tie your eyes |
| suurentaa | to enlarge | suurennuttaa | having an employee enlarge a picture |
| säätää | to adjust | säädättää | having your car’s brakes adjusted |
| tappaa | to kill | tapattaa | having a mercenary kill your foes |
| tarkastaa | to review | tarkastuttaa | having someone proofread your thesis |
| tarkistaa | to check | tarkistuttaa | having an official check the register |
| tasata | to even | tasauttaa | having a barber straighten your bangs |
| tatuoida | to tattoo | tatuoittaa | having a tattoo artist tattoo you |
| tehdä | to do | teettää | having a dressmaker make you a suit |
| tutkia | to examine | tutkittaa | having an eye doctor check your eyes |
| vangita | to capture | vangituttaa | having an official capture a criminal |
| vetää | to pull | vedättää | having a dentist pull your tooth |
| värjätä | to dye | värjäyttää | having a barber dye your hair |
2. Sentence Construction of Teettoverbit
The sentence construction of verbs like teettää and korjauttaa is unusual. The subject of these sentences, which is usually a person, causes the verb’s action to come about, but doesn’t do the action themselves. The do-er or the action can usually be expressed using the adessive case (-lla).
However, often the do-er not mentioned at all. For example, when you say “I had my beard shaved” it is quite likely that the do-er is a barber, and that it doesn’t for the context matter at all who did the shaving: Hän ajatti partansa.
There are many linguistic sources (e.g. kielikello) available in which the problematic usage of this sentence construction is discussed. The main issue is that it can cause misunderstandings, and that there are other, more easily understadable sentence constructions available. For example, we can say “Matti antaa Pekan rakentaa talon.” instead of “Matti rakennuttaa Pekalla talon.” “Matti makes Pekka build the house”
Nevertheless, it’s good to learn of the existence of verbs like teettää and korjauttaa.
3. Example Sentences
Below, I’m only including full example sentences of the verbs like teettää and korjauttaa that you are the most likely to run into. I’m using the third person hän-form in the imperfect tense for these example sentences.
We can, however, conjugate these verbs like any other verb. As such, the example “Ari ajatti partansa” could be “Ari on ajattanut partansa” in the perfect tense and we can also change it to “Minä ajatin partani“.
3.1. Health, hygiene and beauty
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| Ari ajatti partansa. | Ari had his beard removed. |
| Sari laitatti kampauksensa. | Sari had her hair made. |
| Sari kampautti hiuksensa. | Sari had her hair combed. |
| Sari leikkautti tukkansa. | Sari had her hair cut. |
| Sari tasautti otsatukkansa. | Sari had the bangs evened out. |
| Ari värjäytti tukkansa punaiseksi. | Ari had his hair dyed red. |
| Ari hierotti hartioitaan. | Ari had his shoulders massaged. |
| Ari haetti lääkärin luokseen. | Ari made them get a doctor. |
| Ari hoidatti hampaansa kuntoon. | Ari had his teeth fixed. |
| Ari tutkitti näkönsä. | Ari had his vision checked. |
| Ari vedätti hampaan. | Ari had a tooth pulled. |
| Ari ompelutti vaatteita ompelijalla. | Ari had a sewer sew the clothes. |
| Ari teetti puvun Aasiassa. | Ari had the suit made in Asia. |
| Ari poistatti tahran pesulassa. | Ari had a stain removed at the cleaner’s. |
| Ari pesetti pyykit pesulassa. | Ari had laundry washed at the cleaner’s. |
| Ari silitytti pukunsa. | Ari had his suit ironed. |
3.2. Physical work
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| Ari hinautti auton huoltamoon. | Ari had the car towed to the garage. |
| Ari huollatti autonsa huoltamossa. | Ari serviced his car in the garage. |
| Ari katsastutti autonsa tammikuussa. | Ari had his car inspected in January. |
| Ari muutatti autoon talvirenkaat. | Ari had his winter tires changed. |
| Ari säädätti jarrunsa ajoissa. | Ari had his brakes adjusted in time. |
| Ari rakennutti itselleen talon. | Ari had a house built for himself. |
| Ari maalautti talonsa. | Ari had his house painted. |
| Ari korjautti katon. | Ari had the roof repaired. |
| Ari kaivatti ojan. | Ari had a ditch dug. |
| Ari kaadatti puita. | Ari had some trees felled. |
| Ari kuljetutti tavaransa. | Ari had his things transported. |
| Ari siirrätti pianon. | Ari had the piano moved. |
| Ari puratti lastin. | Ari had the cargo unloaded. |
3.3. Violence
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| Stalin ammutti hänet vuonna 1937. | Stalin had him shot in the year 1937. |
| Ari marssitti joukot rajalle. | Ari had the troops marched to the border. |
| Diktaattori vangitutti vastustajiaan. | The dictator had his opponents captured. |
| Ari murhautti vastustajansa. | Ari had his opponents murdered. |
| Diktaattori hirtätti vastustajansa. | The dictator had his opponents hanged. |
| Diktaattori tapatti vastustajiaan. | The dictator had his opponents killed. |
3.4. Pictures and films
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| Ari piirrätti talon arkkitehdillä. | Ari had an architect draw the house. |
| Ari suurennutti valokuvia. | Ari had the photos enlarged. |
| Ari kävi kuvauttamassa itsensä. | Ari went to have his picture taken. |
| Ari otatti passikuvan. | Ari had a passport picture taken. |
| Ari kehitytti filmin liikkeessä. | Ari had a film developed at a store. |
3.5. Paperwork and bureaucracy
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| Ari kirjoitutti muistiinpanot puhtaaksi. | Ari had someone type up the notes. |
| Hallitus hyväksytti lain. | The government got the law approved. |
| Ari tarkistutti tietonsa. | Ari had his information checked. |
| Ari käännätti kirjan suomeksi. | Ari had the book translated to Finnish. |
| Ari painatti kirjan salaa. | Ari secretly had the book printed. |
| Ari sidotti väitöskirjansa. | Ari had his dissertation bound. |
| Ari leimautti jäsenkorttinsa. | Ari had his member card stamped. |
Read more about the topic elsewhere:
- SKS: Teettoverbit: johdon ja taivutuksen välimaastoa
- JSL: The causative constructions in the Finnish language
- Geda Paulsen: Causation and dominance
That’s it for verbs like teettää and korjauttaa! Do read more about it elsewhere if you’re into linguistics!
In addition to marking the do-er with the adessive (-llA), Jukka Korpela’s Handbook of Finnish section on the syntax of causation also includes the following:
Yes, there are multiple ways to express the do-er and confuse students even more, wheee! :p Good thing that for some of us those gritty details are so delicious to explore. <3
Juottaa and syöttää aren’t on this page especially because I “feel” they differ from this page’s “teettoverbs” (which I don’t have a proper translation for). The verbs in this list all express that “you’re having someone do something to/for you”. Juottaa and syöttää aren’t really like that: they mean that you’re causing something to happen to someone (feeding a baby is “making a baby eat”, watering a horse is “making a horse drink”).
If you find the correct terms for these two groups in English, Michael, I would be grateful, as I’ve put off making an article on syöttää-type verbs exactly because I don’t have a name for them. Some of them are actually really common.
If I added more (unnecessary) complexity, rest assured it is a case of “misery loves company”! Mostly, I’ve only come across these concepts in Wiktionary and my feeble attempts to translate the key concepts in ISK. The classification I’ve seen most often is “causative” and it’s subcategory “curative”. Perhaps even without a perfect English translation, the concept can still be illustrated by making comparison tables, marking the role of each participant and the associated linguistic markers? I often do this in my study notes, especially when the textbook says that one of the participants is unknown or unmentioned. As for other verb types to explore in the same grouping, maybe captative verbs (e.g. ‘kalastaa’ (to fish))?
Maalautta: having an article paint your portrait. Article=artist.
Yep! Kiitos! You have 7 points now 🙂