Sisältaa

Sisältaa is a nonstandard form that appears in Finnish texts as a misspelling or typographical variant of the standard verb sisältää. The correct spelling in official Finnish is sisältää, which means “to contain” or “to include.” In formal writing, sisältaa is generally considered incorrect, since it does not correspond to a recognized lemma in standard dictionaries.

The primary meaning of sisältää is transitive: it describes what is inside or part of something. It can refer to physical contents as well as abstract content. For example: Tämä purkki sisältää vettä (This jar contains water). Kirja sisältää 300 sivua (The book contains 300 pages). Ohjelmisto sisältää useita toimintoja (The software includes several functions). Ruoan resepti sisältää kolme ainesosaa (The recipe contains three ingredients).

Semantically, sisältää is used when the focus is on what is inside or part of a whole. It contrasts with the related verb sisältyä, which means “to be included” or “to be contained” in something. For instance, Raportti sisältää tietoja (The report contains information) versus Tietoja sisältyy raporttiin (Information is included in the report). The latter construction emphasizes inclusion within a larger set rather than active containment.

Orthography and usage notes: sisältaa is not a standard Finnish word and is generally treated as a spelling error for sisältää. Writers should use sisältää in present tense, and recognize that diacritics (ä) mark distinct letters in Finnish orthography. In educational and formal contexts, adherence to the standard form helps avoid confusion with related terms such as sisältyä (to be included) and sisältö (content).