pistää

Pistää is a Finnish verb with a wide range of literal and idiomatic meanings. Its basic senses include to prick, stab, jab or sting (physical penetration), and to put, insert or place something into or onto something else. From these core meanings it has developed many derived uses in everyday speech.

Grammatically, pistää is an irregular verb in meaning and conjugation patterns: infinitive pistää, present minä pistän, hän pistää, past pistin, pisti. It forms many participles and compound expressions and combines with particles to create separable verbs, for example pistää päälle (to switch on), pistää pystyyn (to set up) and pistää pois (to put away).

The verb appears in numerous idiomatic expressions: pistää paremmaksi (to outdo), pistää merkille (to take note of), pistää pakettiin (to finish or wrap up) and pistää hanttiin (colloquial: to resist). Register ranges from neutral to colloquial depending on context and combination.

Etymologically pistää belongs to the Finnic verb family and has cognates in neighboring Finnic languages such as Estonian (pistma). Its versatility and frequency make it a common element of spoken and written Finnish, useful for describing physical actions, causing states or actions, and forming many phrasal meanings.