Voittaisimme

Voittaisimme is the first person plural conditional form of the Finnish verb voittaa, meaning "to win". Literally translated, voittaisimme means "we would win" and is used to express hypothetical, potential or counterfactual situations involving the speaker and one or more others.

Grammatical formation and use

Voittaisimme is formed from the verb stem(voitta-) plus the conditional marker -isi- and the personal ending -mme. It follows regular conditional conjugation patterns in Finnish and is used for polite expressions, conjectures, wishes, or conditional clauses: for example, "Voittaisimme hänet, jos harjoittelisimme enemmän" ("We would beat him if we practiced more"). The negative conditional uses the negative auxiliary: "Emme voittaisi" ("We would not win"). Questions and emphasis are formed in the usual way, e.g. "Voittaisimmeko?" ("Would we win?").

Nuance and related forms

The conditional can convey tentative probability ("we might win") or a desired outcome ("we would win, but..."). Related forms include voittaisin (first person singular), voittaisit (second person singular), voittaisi (third person singular) and voittaisivat (third person plural). The conditional perfect equivalent is expressed periphrastically, e.g. "olisimme voittaneet" ("we would have won").

Etymology

Voittaisimme derives from the Proto-Finnic verb root that yielded modern voittaa, combined with the Finnish conditional suffix -isi- and the plural personal ending -mme.