sairastaa

Sairastaa is a Finnish verb meaning to be ill or to suffer from an illness. It is used to describe a person experiencing illness that lasts beyond a momentary indisposition. In typical usage, the disease or condition is expressed in the partitive case, for example sairastaa flunssaa (to have the flu) or sairastaa vakavaa sairautta (to suffer from a serious illness).

The verb derives from the noun sairaus (illness) and is part of the common Finnish class of -taa verbs. The infinitive is sairastaa, and it follows standard Finnish conjugation patterns for -aa verbs. Present tense forms include: minä sairastan, sinä sairastat, hän sairastaa, me sairastamme, te sairastatte, he sairastavat. The past tense forms are: minä sairastin, sinä sairasti, hän sairasti, me sairastimme, te sairastitte, he sairastivat. The verb can also appear in compound tenses with auxiliary verbs, as in olen sairastanut (I have been ill).

Usage notes and nuance: sairastaa is somewhat more formal or neutral than everyday phrases like olla kipeä (to be sick). It emphasizes the condition of illness and is commonly used in written Finnish, medical contexts, or formal reporting. It can apply to acute illnesses as well as longer-term health problems.

Related forms include sairastua (to fall ill, to become sick) and sairaus (illness). The root forms sairas and related adjectives may appear in related vocabulary concerning health and disease.