Evätä

Evätä is a Finnish verb meaning to deny, withhold, or deprive someone of something, typically a right, permission, benefit, or opportunity. The sense is often found in formal, legal, or administrative language and is less common in everyday speech than verbs like kieltäytyä (to refuse) or estää (to prevent). When something is denied, the recipient is usually expressed in a dative-like form such as hänelle or jollekin, followed by the item being denied, for example: hänelle evätään oikeus osallistua.

Usage and construction: Evätä is a transitive verb. The standard construction is in the passive or impersonal form: hakemus evätään (the application is denied). It can also appear with a concrete recipient: henkilölle evätään oikeus osallistua kilpailuun (the person is denied the right to participate in the competition). In past tense, forms like eväsi are used: kunnan hallitus eväsi rakennusluvan. The past participle evätty is used in compound or passive phrases, such as evätty rahoitus (funding withheld).

Nuances: Evätä emphasizes the act of withholding something that is due or requested, often by an authority. It contrasts with kieltäytyä, which centers on a person’s own refusal, and with estää or sallia, which relate to prevention or permission, respectively. Evätä is most at home in administrative, legal, or policy contexts, where decisions about rights, grants, or approvals are communicated and recorded.

See also: kieltäytyä, kieltäminen, myöntää, sallia, estää.