Hajotimme

Hajotimme is the first-person plural past tense form of the Finnish verb hajottaa. The base verb hajottaa means to break something into pieces, to disassemble, or to cause something to decompose. In English, hajotimme can be translated as “we broke” or “we disassembled,” depending on the object and context. The form belongs to the transitive verb class and requires a direct object.

Conjugation and usage notes: The verb follows regular Finnish conjugation patterns for the imperfect tense in the first-person plural. Present tense forms include hajotan (I break), hajotat (you break), hajottaa (he/she/it breaks), hajotamme (we break), hajotatte (you all break), hajottavat (they break). The past tense form hajotimme is used when narrating a past action by the speaker and at least one other person. Examples: Me hajotimme vanhan pöydän. We broke the old table. Me hajotimme lasin. We shattered the glass. The expression can also apply to disassembling parts of a device or system, not only to physical fragmentation.

Semantic range: While primarily physical, hajottaa can carry figurative or mechanical senses, such as breaking a process or breaking down a complex task into simpler parts. In chemistry, the related word hajoittaa is used to denote decomposition, while hajoittua describes something breaking down or decomposing spontaneously. In practice, hajottaa emphasizes an intentional action by an actor, whereas hajoittua emphasizes a state change.

Etymology: The verb derives from the stem hajoo- plus the causative suffix -ottaa, forming a transitive verb meaning “to cause to break apart.” The related noun and adjective forms describe fragmentation or decomposition as a process or result.