Välittää

Välittää is a Finnish verb with several related meanings that revolve around concern, transmission, and mediation. It is commonly used in everyday language and has both concrete and more abstract senses.

One sense is to care about or mind someone or something. In this usage, välittää expresses personal interest or concern, and is often found with negation to indicate indifference. Examples include "En välitä siitä" (I don’t care about that) and "Välitätko minusta?" (Do you care about me?). This sense can also be used with phrases indicating concern for safety, well-being, or values.

Another sense is to convey, pass on, or relay information, messages, or signals. When used in this sense, välittää describes transmitting something from one person to another or onward to an audience. Example constructions include "välittää viestin eteenpäin" (to pass on a message) and "sanoma välitettiin kuulijalle" (the message was conveyed to the listener).

Välittää can also refer to acting as an intermediary or broker in a communication or transaction, i.e., to mediate. In this sense, a person or entity is described as facilitating a deal or coordinating information between parties. The related noun "välittäjä" denotes an intermediary or broker, and "välitys" refers to mediation or transmission in general.

In grammar, välittää forms across tenses (present: minä välitän, sinä välität, hän välittää), with a passive or perfect variant used to describe what has been conveyed or mediated. The meaning is highly context-dependent, so distinguishing care, conveyance, and mediation relies on surrounding elements such as objects (jostakin, viestin, sanoma) and the discourse situation.