vahingoittaa

Vahingoittaa is a Finnish verb meaning to injure, harm or damage. It is a transitive verb that can refer to physical harm to a person or to damage of objects, as well as more abstract harm such as reputational or financial damage.

In practical use, vahingoittaa takes a direct object referring to what is harmed. The verb conjugates regularly: present tense forms include minä vahingoitan, sinä vahingoitat, hän vahingoittaa, me vahingoitamme, te vahingoitatte, he vahingoittavat. Past tense forms are vahingoitin, vahingoitit, vahingoitti, vahingoitimme, vahingoititte, vahingoittivat. The past participle is vahingoittanut, and the present participle is vahingoittava. Passive forms include vahingoittuu and vahingoitetaan. The verb can be used in phrases such as "vahingoittaa jotakuta" (to injure someone) or "vahingoittaa jotain" (to damage something). In negation, examples include "se ei vahingoittanut ketään" (it did not injure anyone) and "se ei vahingoittanut mitään" (it did not damage anything).

Usage notes: vahingoittaa often appears in physical contexts (accidents, injuries, damage to property) as well as in figurative senses (to harm a reputation, finances or relationships). It is commonly paired with nouns specifying the harmed target, such as ihmiset (people), omaisuus (property), mainetta (reputation) or talous (finances).

Related terms include vahinko (damage or injury), vahingonteko (act of causing damage), and vahingoittunut (injured or damaged, as an adjective). The concept also appears in legal and insurance contexts where the extent and responsibility for harm are assessed.

See also: vahinko, vahingonteko, vahingoittunut.