ohittaa

Ohittaa is a Finnish verb meaning primarily “to pass by” or “to overtake.” It covers both physical overtaking in traffic or sports and more figurative senses such as bypassing, skipping, or surpassing something like a timetable, plan, or expectation. In transportation, it describes one vehicle moving past another or a train passing a station: Auto ohittaa pyöräilijän; Juna ohittaa aseman.

Conjugation and usage notes: In present tense the forms include minä ohitan, sinä ohitat, hän ohittaa, me ohitamme, te ohititte, he ohittavat. In the past tense the forms are ohitin, ohitit, ohitti, ohitimme, ohititte, ohittivat. The imperative forms are ohita (singular) and ohittakaa (plural). The noun forms are ohitus (the act or instance of overtaking) and ohittaminen (the act of overtaking). The verb is commonly used with a direct object representing what is overtaken or bypassed, and it can also describe surpassing a schedule or bypassing steps in a process depending on context.

Examples: Auto ohittaa pyöräilijän. (The car overtakes the cyclist.) Juna ohittaa aseman. (The train passes the station.) Hän ohitti kilpailijat. (He/she overtook the competitors.)

See also: ohitus, ohittaminen, which are the noun forms related to the action of overtaking. The sense of ohittaa is usually clear from context, with physical overtaking prioritized in everyday use and figurative meanings common in business, planning, and sports.