olettaa
Finnish
(index ol)
Etymology
- Originally a causative verb, derived from olla through ole + -ttaa — therefore, literally “to cause to exist”.
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: o‧let‧taa
- IPA(key): /ˈoletːɑː(ʔ)/
Verb
olettaa(transitive)
- to assume, suppose, presuppose
- (logic) to premise, postulate
- to hypothesize (in empiric research)
Usage notes
- (olettaa vs. otaksua and assume/suppose/presume) Olettaa has a slight sense of believing something with thoughts that it could not even be untrue. Otaksua has, on the other hand, a slight sense that the speaker believes something, but still leaves some room for other possibilities about the state of affairs. Otaksua also has a more formal nuance than olettaa and thus it is often translated into English as presume.
Conjugation
| Inflection of olettaa (Kotus type 53/muistaa, tt-t gradation) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| indicative mood | ||||||
| present tense | perfect | |||||
| person | positive | negative | person | positive | negative | |
| 1st sing. | oletan | en oleta | 1st sing. | olen olettanut | en ole olettanut | |
| 2nd sing. | oletat | et oleta | 2nd sing. | olet olettanut | et ole olettanut | |
| 3rd sing. | olettaa | ei oleta | 3rd sing. | on olettanut | ei ole olettanut | |
| 1st plur. | oletamme | emme oleta | 1st plur. | olemme olettaneet | emme ole olettaneet | |
| 2nd plur. | oletatte | ette oleta | 2nd plur. | olette olettaneet | ette ole olettaneet | |
| 3rd plur. | olettavat | eivät oleta | 3rd plur. | ovat olettaneet | eivät ole olettaneet | |
| passive | oletetaan | ei oleteta | passive | on oletettu | ei ole oletettu | |
| past tense | pluperfect | |||||
| person | positive | negative | person | positive | negative | |
| 1st sing. | oletin | en olettanut | 1st sing. | olin olettanut | en ollut olettanut | |
| 2nd sing. | oletit | et olettanut | 2nd sing. | olit olettanut | et ollut olettanut | |
| 3rd sing. | oletti | ei olettanut | 3rd sing. | oli olettanut | ei ollut olettanut | |
| 1st plur. | oletimme | emme olettaneet | 1st plur. | olimme olettaneet | emme olleet olettaneet | |
| 2nd plur. | oletitte | ette olettaneet | 2nd plur. | olitte olettaneet | ette olleet olettaneet | |
| 3rd plur. | olettivat | eivät olettaneet | 3rd plur. | olivat olettaneet | eivät olleet olettaneet | |
| passive | oletettiin | ei oletettu | passive | oli oletettu | ei ollut oletettu | |
| conditional mood | ||||||
| present | perfect | |||||
| person | positive | negative | person | positive | negative | |
| 1st sing. | olettaisin | en olettaisi | 1st sing. | olisin olettanut | en olisi olettanut | |
| 2nd sing. | olettaisit | et olettaisi | 2nd sing. | olisit olettanut | et olisi olettanut | |
| 3rd sing. | olettaisi | ei olettaisi | 3rd sing. | olisi olettanut | ei olisi olettanut | |
| 1st plur. | olettaisimme | emme olettaisi | 1st plur. | olisimme olettaneet | emme olisi olettaneet | |
| 2nd plur. | olettaisitte | ette olettaisi | 2nd plur. | olisitte olettaneet | ette olisi olettaneet | |
| 3rd plur. | olettaisivat | eivät olettaisi | 3rd plur. | olisivat olettaneet | eivät olisi olettaneet | |
| passive | oletettaisiin | ei oletettaisi | passive | olisi oletettu | ei olisi oletettu | |
| imperative mood | ||||||
| present | perfect | |||||
| person | positive | negative | person | positive | negative | |
| 1st sing. | — | — | 1st sing. | — | — | |
| 2nd sing. | oleta | älä oleta | 2nd sing. | ole olettanut | älä ole olettanut | |
| 3rd sing. | olettakoon | älköön olettako | 3rd sing. | olkoon olettanut | älköön olko olettanut | |
| 1st plur. | olettakaamme | älkäämme olettako | 1st plur. | olkaamme olettaneet | älkäämme olko olettaneet | |
| 2nd plur. | olettakaa | älkää olettako | 2nd plur. | olkaa olettaneet | älkää olko olettaneet | |
| 3rd plur. | olettakoot | älkööt olettako | 3rd plur. | olkoot olettaneet | älkööt olko olettaneet | |
| passive | oletettakoon | älköön oletettako | passive | olkoon oletettu | älköön olko oletettu | |
| potential mood | ||||||
| present | perfect | |||||
| person | positive | negative | person | positive | negative | |
| 1st sing. | olettanen | en olettane | 1st sing. | lienen olettanut | en liene olettanut | |
| 2nd sing. | olettanet | et olettane | 2nd sing. | lienet olettanut | et liene olettanut | |
| 3rd sing. | olettanee | ei olettane | 3rd sing. | lienee olettanut | ei liene olettanut | |
| 1st plur. | olettanemme | emme olettane | 1st plur. | lienemme olettaneet | emme liene olettaneet | |
| 2nd plur. | olettanette | ette olettane | 2nd plur. | lienette olettaneet | ette liene olettaneet | |
| 3rd plur. | olettanevat | eivät olettane | 3rd plur. | lienevät olettaneet | eivät liene olettaneet | |
| passive | oletettaneen | ei oletettane | passive | lienee oletettu | ei liene oletettu | |
| Nominal forms | ||||||
| infinitives | participles | |||||
| active | passive | active | passive | |||
| 1st | olettaa | present | olettava | oletettava | ||
| long 1st2 | olettaakseen | past | olettanut | oletettu | ||
| 2nd | inessive1 | olettaessa | oletettaessa | agent1, 3 | olettama | |
| instructive | olettaen | — | negative | olettamaton | ||
| 3rd | inessive | olettamassa | — | 1) Usually with a possessive suffix. 2) Used only with a possessive suffix; this is the form for the third-person singular and third-person plural. | ||
| elative | olettamasta | — | ||||
| illative | olettamaan | — | ||||
| adessive | olettamalla | — | ||||
| abessive | olettamatta | — | ||||
| instructive | olettaman | oletettaman | ||||
| 4th | nominative | olettaminen | ||||
| partitive | olettamista | |||||
| 5th2 | olettamaisillaan | |||||
Derived terms
- adverbs: oletettavasti
- nouns: olettama, olettamus, oletus