Pitämään

Pitämään is a Finnish verb form derived from the verb pitää, meaning to hold, to keep, or to maintain. In addition to its literal sense of physical possession or retention, pitämään functions across a broad range of meanings, including obligation, preference, and habitual action. The form pitämään is commonly encountered as a non-finite or infinitive-like variant used in compound expressions and subordinate clauses.

Etymology and cognates: Pitää belongs to a core set of Finnic verbs with a long-standing semantic field around holding and maintaining. Its cognates appear in related languages, such as Estonian pidama, reflecting a common Proto-Finnic root. The versatile nature of pitää is preserved in these cognates, which also convey ideas of keeping or holding in various contexts.

Common meanings and usages: As a basic verb, pitää covers physical holding and keeping something in a state (to hold onto, to keep safe). It also expresses necessity or obligation when used with related constructions (to have to, to must). Another key sense is liking or enjoying something, as in the everyday expression pidän kahvista (I like coffee). In fixed phrases, pitämään appears in idioms such as pitään kiinni (to hold on), pitää paikkansa (to hold true/stand to reason), and pitää hauskaa (to have fun), as well as to maintain pace or effort, such as pitää kiirettä (to keep busy).

Grammar overview: Pitää has common present tense forms like pidän, pidät, pitää, pidämme, pidätte, pitävät, with negative form ei pidä. The form pitämään is one of the non-finite variants used in various constructions and is encountered in dictionary entries as the infinitive-like or concessive form related to pitää.

See also: Finnish verb conjugation, Finnish grammar, idioms with pitää.

The entry highlights the central role of pitämään as the flexible, high-frequency form of pitää, underpinning a wide spectrum of meanings in Finnish.