Osoittautua

Osoittautua is a Finnish verb meaning "to prove to be; to turn out to be." It is used to describe the outcome of a situation, investigation, or assessment—what something ends up being or what becomes evident in hindsight. The verb is intransitive and often takes predicative complements in the -ksi form (for example, menestyneksi, vääräksi oletukseksi, vaarattomaksi) to express what something has turned into or been shown to be.

Etymology and form: Osoittaa means "to show," and the form -utua is a derivational suffix that creates an inchoative or resultative verb. The infinitive is osoittautua; common finite forms include osoittautuu (present) and osoittautui (past). The perfect forms use on osoittautunut or on osoittautunut, depending on construction.

Usage: The verb frequently appears with complements that specify the result or status into which something has turned, and with clauses introduced by että to present the revealed finding. Examples include: "Tilaisuus osoittautui menestykseksi" (The event turned out to be a success) and "Tutkimuksen lopuksi osoittautui, että hypoteesi piti paikkansa" (At the end of the study it turned out that the hypothesis was correct). It can also express negative outcomes, as in "Se osoittautui valheeksi" (It turned out to be a lie).

Relation to other expressions: Osoittautua is closely related to paljastua (to be revealed) and käydä ilmi (to become apparent), though osoittautua emphasizes the result or confirmation of an expectation or hypothesis.