Löytää

Löytää is a Finnish verb meaning to find. It is used for locating something that is lost or hidden, discovering something new, or obtaining something as a result of searching. The sense can be physical, such as finding a key, or figurative, such as finding a solution or finding time. The verb is common in everyday Finnish and appears in many phrases and collocations.

Conjugation and forms: In the present tense, minä löydän, sinä löydät, hän löytää; me löydämme, te löydätte, he löytävät. In the imperfect, minä löysin, sinä löysit, hän löysi; me löysimme, te löysitte, he löysivät. The infinitive is löytää. The past passive is löytyi or löydettiin, depending on voice and tense; the present passive is löydetään. The past participle is löydetty.

Noun and related forms: The act of finding is löytäminen (the act of finding), and a find or discovery is löytäö or löytä (less common; more typical is löytäminen or löytö as a concrete find). The word is of native Finnic origin and is cognate with related Finnic terms for “to find” in other languages, such as Estonian leidma.

Usage notes: Löytää takes a direct object referring to what is found, often in the partitive form for indefinite objects. It also appears in idiomatic expressions, such as löytää ratkaisu (to find a solution) or löytää itsensä (to find oneself, in a figurative sense).

Examples: Minä löysin avaimeni pöydältä. Hän löysi uuden työn. Me löysimme vanhan valokuvan ullakolta. Avain löytyi lattialta.