Pitävä

Pitävä is a Finnish adjective meaning credible, solid, or well-founded. It describes reasons, arguments, evidence, plans, or statements that are considered sound and worthy of acceptance. The nuance ranges from merely adequate to clearly convincing, depending on context, and it is often used in formal or analytical writing.

Origin and usage: Pitävä derives from the verb pitää (to hold, to keep, to be due). It functions as an adjective and typically precedes the noun it modifies: пitävä peruste (solid basis), pitäviä syitä (solid reasons), pitävä ratkaisu (a sound solution). Like other Finnish adjectives, it inflects for number and case: pitävä syy (nominative singular), pitäviä syitä (partitive plural), pitävän perusteen (genitive).

Usage notes: Pitävä is somewhat formal and common in written Finnish, conveying a neutral to positive assessment without the stronger force of words like vakuuttava or uskottava. It is suitable for evaluating arguments, plans, or evidence. Examples: On olemassa pitäviä perusteita päätökselle. Tarvitaan pitäviä todisteita. Tämä on pitävä ratkaisu.

Related forms and nuances: The corresponding noun is pitövyys, which refers to soundness, durability, or credibility of something. The word shares the same root as pitää and is used to discuss the reliability or sturdiness of reasons, structures, or conclusions.

See also: Pitää (verb); uskottava; vakuuttava; peruste; todiste; perustelu.