Levittää

Levittää is a Finnish verb meaning to spread, lay out, or disseminate something. It can refer to physically spreading a substance over a surface, as well as more abstract spreading such as information, influence, or diseases. The verb is transitive, requiring a direct object, and is commonly used in everyday speech as well as in writing.

Common senses and usage include:

- Spreading a substance on a surface: levittää voita leivälle (to spread butter on bread).

- Disseminating information or messages: levittää uutisia, levittää sanomaa (to spread news, to disseminate a message).

- Spreading or propagating in a wider sense: taudin leviäminen, levittää tautia (the spread of a disease; to spread a disease).

- Expanding influence or reach: levittää vaikutusaluetta (to extend one's influence).

Grammar and forms:

Levittää is a regular -ttää verb. The infinitive is levittää. Present tense forms include minä levitän, sinä levität, hän levittää, me levitämme, te levitätte, he levittävät. The intransitive counterpart is levitä, as in taudin leviää (the disease is spreading). The passive form is levitetään. The past tense forms include minä levitin, sinä levitit, hän levitti, me levitimme, te levititte, he levittivät.

Related terms:

- Levittäminen (the act of spreading, dissemination)

- Levittäjä (spreader)

- Levitys (spread, expansion)

- Levittäytyä (to spread out; intransitive reflexive form)

Levittää and levitä are distinguished by transitivity: levittää requires a direct object, while levitä describes the spreading process itself without a direct object.