The Verb Antaa – Many Meanings
This page is all about the verb antaa. On its own, it only has two common meanings (to give and to allow), but it’s used in a wide variety of commonly used phrases where it has a particular meaning.
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1. To give something to someone
In these sentences, you will generally have both an object and a recipient. The object will follow the regular object rules. The recipient will be inflected in the allative case (-lle).
Just like in English, the verb antaa can be used for giving something both temporarily and permanently to someone. One way to make this difference clear in Finnish is by using the translative case (-ksi). Word order is fairly free for these sentences.
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| Annoin kahvikupin hänelle. | I gave the coffee cup to her. |
| En antanut juomalasia hänelle. | I didn’t give a glass to her. |
| Annatko minulle lahjan? | Will you give me a present? |
| Älä anna minulle lahjoja! | Don’t give me presents! |
| Hän antoi minulle kirjan lahjaksi. | He gave me a book as a present. |
| Hän antoi minulle kirjan lainaksi. | He gave me a book to borrow. |
| Annan sinulle palkinnoksi kirjan. | I give you a book as a reward. |
| Annan sinulle maksuksi kirjan. | I give you a book as payment. |
| Annoin hänelle miettimisaikaa. | I gave him time to think. |
| Anna kaukosäädin minulle! | Give the remote to me! |
| Annoin Antille kukkia. | I gave Antti some flowers. |
2. To allow someone to do something
This special sentence construction (permessiivirakenne) expresses that someone is being allowed by someone else to do something. It requires the genitive, followed by the infinitive of the verb.
What is the most interesting about this construction is that – even in negative sentences – you will use the genitive!
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| Opettaja antoi minun mennä. | The teacher allowed me to leave. |
| Annoin pojan mennä. | I allowed the boy to leave. |
| En antanut pojan mennä. | I didn’t allow the boy to leave. |
| Anna kissan syödä rauhassa! | Let the cat eat in peace! |
| Äiti ei anna lapsen valvoa. | Mom doesn’t let the child stay up. |
| Anna minun olla! | Leave me be! |
| Anna minun auttaa. | Let me help. Allow me to help. |
| Anna oven olla auki. | Let the door be open. |
| Älä anna oven olla auki. | Don’t let the door be open. |
3. Phrases with the verb antaa
The verb antaa appears in a large amount of phrases. I’ve listed them below more or less according to their meaning.
If you look up these words in a Finnish dictionary, you will come across some abbreviations which are meant to help you with the rections of these phrases. I have not used those abbreviations because they are somewhat confusing. As such, here are the official abbreviations and my replacements for them:
- antaa valtaa jllek “to give power to something”
→ jllek means jollekin “to something”
→ I have replaced this with asialle “to the thing” - antaa jklle vapaat kädet “to give someone free reign”
→ jklle means jollekulle “to someone”
→ I have replaced this with hänelle “to him” - antaa selkoa jstak “to explain something”
→ jstak means jostakin “of/from/about something”
→ I have replaced this with asiasta “of/from/about the thing”
In addition, many of these phrases have an object. When the object always appears in the partitive, you will find the words inflected in the partitive in my list. When the object follows the normal total object rules, I have given the basic form. For example:
- In the table below, antaa selkoa uses the partitive, so it will always have the partitive case:
annan selkoa, anna selkoa, älä anna selkoa, annetaan selkoa - In contrast, antaa selkeä viesti has the basic form, so it will follow the object rules:
annan selkeän viestin, anna selkeä viesti, älä anna selkeää viestiä, annetaan selkeä viesti
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| antaa periksi | to give up, give in |
| antaa myöten asialle | to give in to something, to yield |
| antaa myöten hänelle | to relent to him/her, to yield |
| antaa hänet ilmi poliisille | to turn him in to the police |
| antaa hänet ilmi rikoksesta | to turn him in for a crime |
| antaa arvoa asialle | to appreciate something |
| antaa liian vähän arvoa asialle | to give too little value to something |
| antaa tilaa | to give space, to accomodate for |
| antaa tilaa hänelle | to give him space |
| antaa tilaa asialle | to accomodate for something |
| antaa julkista valtaa | to give public authority |
| antaa lisää valtaa hänelle | to give more power to him/her |
| antaa aihetta | to give cause, to give rise to |
| antaa aihetta huoleen | to give cause for concern |
| antaa aihetta optimismiin | to give reason for optimism |
| antaa ajattelemisen aihetta | to give reason to think |
| antaa suuntaa elämälle | to give direction to life |
| antaa suuntaa asialle | to give direction to something |
| antaa suuntamerkki | to give direction, to blink (car) |
| antaa merkki | to signal |
| antaa elonmerkkiä | to give a sign of life |
| antaa aloitusmerkki | to give the starting signal |
| antaa valomerkki | to give the light signal (bar) |
| antaa tehtäväksi | to assign, commission |
| antaa hänen tehtäväksi | to entrust him with |
| antaa hänelle tehtäväksi | to give him the job of |
| antaa hänen haltuunsa | to hand over to him/her |
| antaa valtaa | to give power |
| antaa valtaa pelolle | to give power to fear |
| antaa valtaa epäilyksille | to give power to doubts |
| antaa hänelle vapaat kädet | to give free reign to him |
| antaa hänelle valtuudet asiaan | to give him authority to issue |
| antaa hänelle lupa | to give permission to someone |
| antaa tuomio | to deliver judgement |
| antaa hänelle opetus | to teach him a lesson |
| antaa kuitti hänelle | to give him the receipt |
| antaa ylen | to put, to throw up |
| antaa henkensä | to give one’s life for something |
| antaa kaikkensa | to give his everything |
| antaa suostumuksensa | to give his consent |
| antaa kunniansanansa | to give his word of honor |
| antaa kaasua | to step on the accelerator |
| antaa tietä | to give way |
| antaa suudelma | to give a kiss |
| antaa kielisuudelma | to give a tongue kiss, French kiss |
| antaa rauhoittavia | to give tranquilizers |
| antaa virheellinen kuva asiasta | to give a false impression of sth |
| antaa selkeä kuva asiasta | to give a clear picture of sth |
| antaa hyvä vaikutelma asiasta | to give a good impression of sth |
| antaa asia maksutta | to give something free of charge |
| antaa asia hänelle lainaksi | to lend something to him |
| antaa asia vuokralle | to lease something, rent out |
| antaa alivuokralle | to sublease, to sublet |
| antaa asia myytäväksi | to put something up for sale |
| antaa asia pantiksi | to give something as a pledge |
| antaa hänelle tippiä | to give him a tip (waiter) |
| antaa hänelle maksuaikaa | to give him a grace period |
| antaa asia pois | to give something away |
| antaa alennusta | to give a discount |
| antaa hyvitystä | to give a refund, to rebate |
| antaa hänelle ylennys | to give him a promotion |
| antaa hänelle löysää | to give him some slack |
| antaa hänelle anteeksi asiasta | to forgive him something |
| antaa synnit anteeksi | to absolve, to forgive sins |
| antaa hänelle potkut | to fire him (spoken language) |
| antaa hänelle kenkää | to fire him (spoken language) |
| antaa hänelle lähtöpassit | to kick him out, to make him leave |
| antaa hänelle pakit | to turn him down, to let him down |
| antaa hänelle rukkaset | to turn him down, to refuse someone |
| antaa korvapuusti | to hit someone on the ear |
| antaa piiskaa | to spank |
| antaa selkäsaunaa | to give a spanking |
| antaa selkään | to whip, to beat, to spank |
| antaa nyrkistä | to punch |
| antaa turpaan/turpiin | to give a beating, to hit in the face |
| antaa nyrkkien puhua | to let the fists speak |
| antaa takaisin hänelle | to give back to him |
| antaa takaisin samalla mitalla | to give tit for tat, give back in kind |
| antaa hänelle keppiä | to beat someone (with a cane) |
| antaa selkeä viesti | to give a clear signal |
| antaa selkoa asiasta | to explain something |
| antaa selonteko asiasta | to render an account, to report sth |
| antaa nenäkäs vastaus | to give a sassy answer |
| antaa hänelle puheenvuoro | to give him to floor, let him talk |
| antaa tunnustusta asiasta | to give credit for something |
| antaa mielipiteensä asiasta | to give one’s opinion on something |
| antaa palautetta asiasta | to give feedback on something |
| antaa tyydytystä | to bring satisfaction |
| antaa uutta voimaa | to invigorate, to give new strength |
| antaa uutta eloa asialle | to rejuvenate, to revitalize sth |
| antaa toinen mahdollisuus | to give a second change |
| antaa toinen mahdollisuus | to give a new opportunity |
| antaa asialle uutta potkua | to give new momentum to something |
| antaa asia vastalahjaksi | to reciprocate with something |
| antaa lohtua | to give comfort, provide comfort |
| antaa tukea | to provide support |
| antaa taloudellista tukea | to provide financial support |
| antaa kaiken tukensa | to give one’s full support |
| antaa hänelle puhtia | to pep up, to give a little kick |
| antaa hänelle suojapaikka | to provide refuge for someone |
| antaa hänelle kyytiä | to give him a ride |
| antaa hänen kuulla kunniansa | to give someone a piece of one’s mind |
| antaa äänensä kuulua | to let one’s voice be heard, speak up |
| antaa asioiden olla | to let things be, to let things slide |
| antaa asian olla | to let something slide |
| antaa palaa (Anna palaa!) | to go for it, to go ahead |
| antaa vetää (Anna vetää!) | to piss off, to scram |
| antaa (hänen) ymmärtää | to imply, insinuate something |
Alternatives to the verb antaa
The phrases above are all commonly used and really good to get yourself acquainted with. However, if you want to enrich your own language use, many of these phrases can be replaced with an actual verb. Sure, you can say antaa ruokaa “to give food”, but you could just as well use ruokkia lintuja “to feed the birds” or syöttää vauvaa “to feed the baby”.
This doesn’t mean you should avoid the verb antaa in all these phrases. It’s very much like in English: there are situations where you are more prone to say “I give” (“I kiss” vs “I give a kiss”; “I protect” vs “I give protection”; “to command” vs “to give an order”). The following table matches some of these antaa-phrases with their respective verbs.
| Antaa X | Alternative | English |
|---|---|---|
| antaa apua | auttaa | to (give) help |
| antaa arvoa | arvostaa | to value, to appreciate |
| antaa haleja | halata | to give hugs, to hug |
| antaa hoitoa | hoitaa | to give care, to take care of |
| antaa korvapuusti | lyödä | to hit around the head |
| antaa kukille vettä | kastella kukkia | to water plants |
| antaa käsky | käskeä | to (give an) order |
| antaa kättä | kätellä | to shake hands |
| antaa lohtua | lohduttaa | to give comfort, to console |
| antaa ohjeita | ohjeistaa | to give instructions |
| antaa opetus | opettaa | to teach (a lesson) |
| antaa periksi | luovuttaa | to give up, to give in |
| antaa potkut | irtisanoa | to fire someone |
| antaa päätös | päättää | to make a decision, to decide |
| antaa rintaa | immettää | to breast-feed |
| antaa ruokaa linnuille | ruokkia lintuja | to feed birds |
| antaa ruokaa vauvalle | syöttää vauvaa | to feed a baby |
| antaa suojaa | suojata | to give protection, to protect |
| antaa suudelma | suudella | to (give a) kiss |
| antaa suuntamerkki | vilkuttaa | to give the turning signal |
| antaa tehdä | teettää | to have sth made |
| antaa tiedoksi | tiedottaa | to notify, to inform |
| antaa tietä | väistää | to give way, to evade |
| antaa tukea | tukea | to (give) support |
| antaa tuomio | tuomita | to give judgement, to judge |
| antaa vastaus | vastata | to (give an) answer |
That’s it for the verb antaa! I hope this article contained something interesting to each of you!
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