Yllättää

Yllättää is a Finnish verb meaning “to surprise” or “to astonish”. It is a transitive verb that can take a direct object and is commonly used in everyday conversation as well as in literary and journalistic contexts. The verb is derived from the noun yllätti (old Finnish for “surprise”) with the verb suffix –ä, a pattern typical of many Finnish verbs that express actions performed on an object or person.

In the present tense, the verb is yllättää, in past tense yllätti, and in the conditional mood yllättäisi; the participles are yllättävä (describing someone who surprises) and yllentyne (surprised). Yllättää is inseparable from its object; one normally says yllättää kaveria (“to surprise a friend” or yllättää sirkusnäytelmää). The verb can also be used reflexively as yllättää itse (“to surprise oneself”) though this form is rarer.

The term is related to similar verbs that express marvel or astonishment, such as hämmästyttää and huvittaa. In modern Finnish usage, yllättää is often employed in idioms such as yllättää iän – to be surprised by age, indicating someone looks younger than expected. The word is one of the standard verbs taught to Finnish learners and appears frequently in both written literature and spoken language.