Finnish

(index jä)

Verb

jättää

1. (transitive) To leave (an item somewhere; a place; a person).
2. (transitive) To take, drop off, deliver.

   Jätin paketin postiin.

   I dropped the packet off at the post office.

3. (transitive) To submit (to enter or put forward for approval, consideration, marking etc.).

   Jätin hakemukseni viime maanantaina.

   I submitted my application last Monday.

Usage notes

• Jättää is one of the Finnish verbs that, unlike their equivalents in most Indo-European languages, require a lative case, i.e. require the question "where ... to?" instead of "where?". Thus, "Jätin paketin postiin" means literally 'I dropped the packet off to the post office'. Similar verbs are e.g. eksyä, eksyttää, hukkua, hukata, hukuttaa, kadota, kadottaa, hävitä, hävittää, saapua, jäädä and rakentaa. See also the verbs etsiä, löytää, löytyä, lukea and kuulla which require the question "where ... from?" instead of "where?" (Nähdä can be both a verb with an essive case ("where?") and a verb requiring the question "where ... from?".)
• This verb is used in various collocations. Here are some of the most common.

~ pois to leave out, omit; to neglect to mention

~ sikseen to drop (a matter), leave at that

~ huomiotta to disregard, ignore

~ rauhaan to leave sb alone, leave sb in peace

~ varjoonsa to overshadow, leave in one's shadow

~ väliin to skip, pass on, pass up

Conjugation

Derived terms

• ~ oman onnensa nojaan = to leave to his/her own devices = to hang out to dry
• jättää pulaan
• ~ tyhjän päälle = to leave penniless
• nouns: jäte, jätös
• verbs: jätättää
• phrases: jätän päätettäväksi