Esitellä

Esitellä is a Finnish verb meaning to introduce someone to another person or to present or show something to an audience. It can refer to introducing a person to someone else, as well as presenting information, a product, an idea, or a plan. The verb can also be used reflexively in the sense of presenting oneself, though that sense is more commonly expressed with esittäytyä (to introduce oneself).

In practice, esitellä is used with a direct object that identifies what is being presented and with an indirect recipient introduced by a case-marked form such as jollekin. For example, "Hän esitteli minut professorille" means "He introduced me to the professor." In a product or idea context, one may say "Yritys esittelee uuden tuotteen asiakkaille" (The company presents the new product to customers).

Conjugation and forms follow standard Finnish verb patterns. In the present tense, common forms include: minä esittelen, sinä esittelet, hän esittelee, me esittelemme, te esittelette, he esittelevät. In the past tense: minä esittelin, sinä esittelit, hän esitteli, me esittelimme, te esittelitte, he esittelivät. The past participle is esitelty, used in perfect constructions such as olen esitellyt.

Related forms include esittely, the noun for a presentation or demonstration, and esittäytyä, the reflexive form meaning to introduce oneself. Esitellä is distinct from related verbs like esittää, which also means to present or perform but is used in slightly different contexts.

See also: esittely, esittäytyä.