English

Noun

olla ‎(plural ollas)

1. a cooking-pot or earthenware jar used in Spain and Spanish-speaking countries
   • 1992, Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses:

     On top of the counter were three clay jars or ollas. Two of them were empty but the third was covered with the tin lid from a lardpail and the lid was notched to accommodate the handle of an enameled tin dipper.

2. A pot used for cooling water by evaporation in Latin America.
3. A cinerary urn in ancient Rome.

Anagrams

• Lola

Estonian

Verb

olla

1. Da-infinitive of olema.

Finnish

(index ol)

Etymology

From several different roots.

• The normal forms in ol- derive from Proto-Finnic *oldak, from Proto-Uralic *wole-. Cognate with Estonian olema and Hungarian volt.
• The potential forms in lie- derive from Proto-Finnic *leedäk, from Proto-Finno-Ugric *le- ‎(“to become”). Cognate with Karelian lienöy, Livonian līdõ, Veps linda, Hungarian lenni/legyek, Northern Sami leat.
• The forms on and ovat probably derive from yet another root. Cognates are found in Finnish on, Karelian on, Livonian um, Veps om, Votic on, Hungarian van, Võro om/um and ommaq/ummaq.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈolːɑˣ/
• Rhymes: -olːɑ
• Hyphenation: ol‧la

Verb

olla

1. (copulative) To be (indicating that the subject and the complement of the verb form the same thing).

   Minä olen onnellinen.

   I am happy.

   Minä olen lääkäri.

   I am a doctor.

2. (intransitive) To be (to occupy a place).

   Minä olen kotona.

   I am at home.

3. (copulative) To be, constitute, make up, form.

   Tuo on maanpetos.

   That constitutes (high) treason.

4. (intransitive) ~ (olemassa) = to exist — the subject often indefinite = in partitive case -> verb in 3rd-pers. singular

   Rakkautta ei ole (olemassa).

   Love doesn't exist.

5. (intransitive) To behave, act (as if...) (when followed by a subordinate clause beginning with (ikään,) kuin, requiring conditional mood).

   Hän oli (ikään), kuin ei olisi huomannut mitään.

   He behaved as if he hadn't noticed anything.

6. (transitive, auxiliary) To have (a verb to build active present perfect tense and active past perfect tense, taking active past participle, ending -nut/-nyt (singular) or -neet (pl.)).

   Olen jo syönyt tänään.

   I have already eaten today.

   Olemme jo syöneet tänään.

   We have already eaten today.

   Olin jo syönyt.

   I had already eaten.

   Olimme jo syöneet.

   We had already eaten.

7. (transitive, auxiliary) To have (a verb to build impersonal simple past tense, impersonal passive present perfect tense and impersonal passive past perfect tense, taking passive past participle, ending -tu/-ty).

   Aamiainen oli jo syöty.

   Breakfast had already been eaten.

8. (intransitive) adessive + 3rd-pers. singular + nominative/partitive/accusative = to have; to own, to possess.

   Minulla on/oli/on ollut kissa (nom.). (when in positive sentences, countable nouns in nominative)

   I have/had/have had a cat.

   Minulla ei ole kissaa (part.). (when in negative sentences, countable nouns in partitive)

   I don't have a cat.

   Minulla on/oli/on ollut sinut (acc.). (when in positive sentences, personal pronouns in accusative)

   I have/had/have had you.

   Minulla ei ole/ei ollut/ei ole ollut sinua (part.). (when in negative sentences, personal pronouns in partitive)

   I don't have/didn't have/haven't had you.

   Minulla on/ei ole rahaa (part.). (singular uncountable nouns in partitive in both positive and negative sentences)

   I have/don't have money.

   Minulla on valta (nom.). (with an uncountable noun in nominative, the meaning or nuance of the sentence changes:)

   I've got the power.

9. (intransitive) missä + 3rd-pers. singular + nominative/partitive = there is / are + subject + where?

   Pöydällä on kissa. (when in positive sentences, singular countable nouns in nominative)

   There is a cat on the table.

   Pöydällä ei ole kissaa. (when in negative sentences, singular countable nouns in partitive)

   There is no cat on the table.

   Pöydällä on/ei ole kissoja. (plural countable nouns in partitive in both positive and negative sentences)

   There are (some) cats / There are no cats on the table.

   Lattialla on/ei ole rahaa. (singular uncountable nouns in partitive in both positive and negative sentences)

   There is (some) / There is no money on the floor.

10. (intransitive) genitive + 3rd-pers. singular + passive present participle, -tava/-tävä = to have to do something, must do something; be obliged/forced to do something.

    Minun (gen.) on nyt mentävä.

    I have to go now.

    Minun on palautettava kirja kirjastoon perjantaihin mennessä.

    I have to return the book to the library by Friday.

    • that same in passive: nominative/accusative + 3rd-pers. singular + passive present participle, -tava/-tävä = to have to be done, must be done.

    Kirja (nom.) on palautettava kirjastoon perjantaihin mennessä. (countable nouns in nominative)

    The book has to be returned to the library by Friday.

    Onko sinut (acc.) hiljennettevä pakolla? (personal pronouns in accusative)

    Do I have to make you shut your mouth? (literally: Do you have to be quietened by force?)

Usage notes

In the sense “to have” the verb olla is always in third person singular form and the person who has something is indicated with adessive case. Grammatically the thing owned is the subject-complement of the sentence:

minulla on -- I have

sinulla on -- you have

hänellä on -- he/she has

sillä on -- it has

meillä on -- we have

teillä on -- you have

heillä on -- they have

Lassilla on -- Lassi has

kaupungin terveyslautakunnalla on -- the municipal health board has

Same applies through all tenses, infinitives and participles (where they make sense), e.g.

minulla ei olisi ollut -- I would not have had

minulla tulee olemaan -- I will have

minulla rupeaa olemaan -- I am beginning to have

Conjugation

Derived terms

• oli miten oli
• olla (+ vähällä) + infinitive = to almost/nearly (do something accidental, harmful, wrong or fateful).

Olin (vähällä) kaatua lattialle.

• I almost fell on the floor.

• olla + essive plural form of an active present participle (-vina/-vinä) + possessive suffix = to be supposed to do, pretend to do, put on airs of doing, affect:

Mikä tämä on olevinaan? (speaker belittling the object in front of her/him)

• What is this supposed to be?

Olit olevinasi niin täydellinen.

• You pretended to be so damn perfect.

• olla + fifth infinitive + possessive suffix by person = to be about to do (when something happens preventing it):

Olin lähtemäisilläni ulos, kun puhelin soi.

• I was about to go out when the phone rang.

• olla määrä = to be to, to be due to

Se on määrä sulkea vuonna 2017.

• It is due to close in 2017.

• genitive + 3rd-pers. singular + pakko + infinitive = to must, have to, be forced to:

Minun on pakko lähteä nyt.

• I have to leave now.

• genitive + olisi (conditional) parasta + infinitive = had better + infinitive:

Sinun olisi parasta olla hiljaa.

• You had better be silent.

• olkoonkin(, että...) = never mind (that...)
• (interjection): olkoon menneeksi = (okay,...) why not, go ahead, (colloquial) what the ****
• olla kunnossa = to be in shape; to be in order

Usage note

• If used without an adjective, olla kunnossa is a positive expression, and one might as well say olla hyvässä kunnossa (to be in good shape/order). If necessary, another adjective may be used:
  • Olen kamalassa kunnossa. = I'm in an awful shape.
  • Olen kohtuullisessa kunnossa lähtemään kotiin. = I'm in a moderate shape to go home.

• adjectives: oleellinen, olematon, olennainen, oleva, olevainen
• nouns: olemus, olento, olio, olo, oltavat
• verbs: frequentatives oleilla, oleskella; causative olettaa; reflexive oleutua

Icelandic

Etymology

From English ollie.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔlːa/
• Rhymes: -ɔlːa

Verb

olla ‎(weak verb, third-person singular past indicative ollaði, supine ollað)

1. (skateboarding) to ollie, perform an ollie

Conjugation

Irish

Noun

olla f

1. genitive singular of olann

Mutation

Italian

Etymology

From Latin.

Noun

olla f ‎(plural olle)

1. earthen jar
2. cooking pot

Anagrams

• allo

Karelian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *oldak, from Proto-Uralic *wole-.

Verb

olla

1. to be

Latin

Alternative forms

• aula, aulla, ōla

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *Hukʷnos ‎(“fire pot”), Proto-Indo-European *Hukʷ- ‎(“cooking pot”) (compare Sanskrit उखा ‎(ukhā), Old Armenian ակութ ‎(akutʿ), Albanian anë, Ancient Greek ἰπνός ‎(ipnós), Germanic *uhnaz, *uhwnaz and subsequently Old Norse and Old English ofn (English oven).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈol.la/, [ˈɔl.la]

Noun

olla f ‎(genitive ollae); first declension

1. pot, jar

Declension

First declension.

Descendants

References

• olla in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• olla in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• 2. OLLA in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “1 olla”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette, page 1,077/1.
• olla in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• olla in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
• “olla (ōla)” on page 1,246/2 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

Old Dutch

Adjective

olla

1. Alternative form of alla

   Hebban olla vogala nestas hagunnan‎

   All birds have started to build their nests

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈol͈a/

Noun

olla f

1. genitive singular of olann

Mutation

Old Spanish

Etymology

From Latin olla.

Noun

olla f (plural ollas)

1. pot
   • c1200: Almeric, Fazienda de Ultramar, f. 17r. a.

     Qvãdo ſeyemos ſobre las ollas de la carne & comyemos pã afartura.

     When we sat by the pots of meat and ate bread until we were satiated.

Descendants

• Spanish: olla

Spanish

Etymology

From Old Spanish olla, from Latin olla.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈoʎa/

Noun

olla f ‎(plural ollas)

1. a pot or pan; a kettle
2. a stew
3. a pool, a whirlpool

Anagrams

• Lalo
• Lola

Swedish

Etymology

Derived from ollon ‎(“glans”).

Verb

olla

1. (vulgar) to touch with one's glans (tip of the ****)

   Han ollade min tandborste på fyllan.‎

   He touched my toothbrush with his **** when he was drunk.

Conjugation