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Päättää

Päättää is a Finnish verb meaning to decide, to determine, or to conclude. It is used when a person makes a choice or arrives at a resolution about a course of action. The sense of concluding a discussion or settling a matter can also appear in more formal contexts.

Usage and construction

Päättää is typically followed by an infinitive to express deciding to do something, for example, to decide

Related noun and expressions

The noun form päätös means a decision, referring to the act or outcome of deciding. A common

Origins and note

Päättää is a native Finnish verb. Its core meaning centers on making a decision or determining something,

Examples

Päätin lähteä kotiin. I decided to go home.

Hän päättää tehdä sen huomenna. He decides to do it tomorrow.

Olen päättänyt tehdä sen. I have decided to do it.

to
leave
or
to
decide
to
undertake
a
task.
It
can
also
introduce
a
clause
with
että
to
state
a
decision
about
a
future
action,
such
as
“Päätin,
että
menen.”
In
everyday
speech,
the
verb
appears
in
various
tenses
and
persons,
and
its
perfect
forms
are
used
with
auxiliary
verbs
(for
example,
“olen
päättänyt”
=
I
have
decided).
expression
is
tehdä
päätös,
meaning
to
make
a
decision.
The
verb
is
closely
contrasted
with
päättyä,
which
means
to
end
or
to
finish,
a
different
intransitive
verb
with
a
separate
set
of
uses.
rather
than
ending
an
event.
The
two
verbs
are
often
mentioned
together
in
language
learning,
but
they
are
used
in
distinct
grammatical
constructions
and
contexts.