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.

3.1. Health, hygiene and beauty

Finnish	English
Hän ajatti partansa.	He had his beard removed.
Hän laitatti kampauksensa.	She had her hair made.
Hän kampautti hiuksensa.	She had her hair combed.
Leikkauttaa tukkansa.	She had her hair cut.
Tasauttaa otsatukkansa.	She had the bangs evened out.
Hän värjäyttää tukkansa punaiseksi.	She had her hair dyed red.
Hän hierotti hartioitaan.	He had his shoulders massaged.
Hän haetti lääkärin luokseen.	He made them get a doctor.
Hän hoidatti hampaansa kuntoon.	He had his teeth fixed.
Hän tutkitti näkönsä.	She had her vision checked.
Hän vedätti hampaan.	She had a tooth pulled.
Hän ompelutti vaatteita ompelijalla.	He had a sewer sew the clothes.
Hän teetti puvun Aasiassa.	He had the suit made in Asia.
Hän poistatti tahran pesulassa.	He had a stain removed at the cleaner’s.
Hän pesetti pyykit pesulassa.	He had laundry washed at the cleaner’s.
Hän silitytti pukunsa.	He had his suit ironed.

3.2. Physical work

Finnish	English
Hän hinautti auton huoltamoon.	He had the car towed to the garage.
Hän huollatti autonsa huoltamossa.	He serviced his car in the garage.
Hän katsastutti autonsa tammikuussa.	He had his car inspected in January.
Hän muutatti autoon talvirenkaat.	He had his winter tires changed.
Hän säädätti jarrunsa ajoissa.	He had his brakes adjusted in time.
Hän rakennutti itselleen talon.	He had a house built for himself.
Hän maalautti talonsa.	He had his house painted.
Hän korjautti katon.	He had the roof repaired.
Hän kaivatti ojan.	He had a ditch dug.
Hän kaadatti puita.	He had some trees felled.
Hän kuljetutti tavaransa.	He had his things transported.
Hän siirrätti pianon.	He had the piano moved.
Hän puratti lastin.	He had the cargo unloaded.

3.3. Violence

Finnish	English
Stalin ammutti hänet vuonna 1937.	Stalin had him shot in the year 1937.
Hän marssitti joukot rajalle.	He had the troops marched to the border.
Diktaattori vangitutti vastustajiaan.	The dictator had his opponents captured.
Hän murhautti vastustajansa.	He 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
Hän piirrätti talon arkkitehdillä.	He had an architect draw the house.
Hän suurennutti valokuvia.	He had the photos enlarged.
Hän kävi kuvauttamassa itsensä.	He went to have his picture taken.
Hän otatti passikuvan.	He had a passport picture taken.
Hän kehitytti filmin liikkeessä.	He had a film developed at a store.

3.5. Paperwork and bureaucracy

Finnish	English
Hän kirjoitutti muistiinpanot puhtaaksi.	He had someone type up the notes.
Hallitus hyväksytti lain.	The government got the law approved.
Hän tarkistutti tietonsa.	He had his information checked.
Hän käännätti kirjan suomeksi.	He had the book translated to Finnish.
Hän painatti kirjan salaa.	He secretly had the book printed.
Hän sidotti väitöskirjansa.	He had his dissertation bound.
Hän leimautti jäsenkorttinsa.	He had his member card stamped.