Olla

Translations

1. (copulative) to be (indicating that the subject and the complement of the verb form the same thing)

   Olen onnellinen. ― I am happy.

   Minä olen lääkäri. ― I am a doctor.

   Olen kamalassa kunnossa. ― I'm in an awful shape.

2. (intransitive) to be (occupy a place)

   Minä olen kotona. ― I am at home.

3. (copulative) to be, constitute, make up, form

   Tuo on maanpetos. ― That constitutes (high) treason.

4. (intransitive, impersonal + adessive) to have; to own, to possess

   Synonyms: (to own) omistaa, (discouraged in most cases) omata

   Minulla on kissa. ― I have a cat.

   Minulla on ollut kissa. ― I have had a cat.

   Minulla ei ole kissaa. ― I don't have a cat.

5. (intransitive, impersonal + inessive) to have, to possess (as a feature or capability, as opposed to simple possession; almost always for inanimate subjects)

   Tässä autossa on kaikki lisävarusteet. ― This car has all the accessories.

6. (intransitive, impersonal + adessive or + genitive) to have (a sensation)

   Minulla on nälkä. / Minun on nälkä. ― I am hungry. (literally, “I have hunger.”)

7. (intransitive, impersonal) (there) be

   Pöydällä on kissa. ― There is a cat on the table.

   Pöydällä ei ole kissaa. ― There is no cat on the table.

   Pöydällä on kissoja. ― There are (some) cats on the table.

   Pöydällä ei ole kissoja. ― There are no cats on the table.

   Lattialla on rahaa ― There is (some) money on the floor.

   1. (intransitive) Synonym of olla olemassa (“to exist”)

      Ei rakkautta ole. ― Love doesn't exist.

8. (intransitive) to behave, act (as if...) (when followed by a essive plural form of a present active participle with a possessive suffix, or a subordinate clause beginning with (ikään,) kuin, requiring conditional mood)

   Hän oli (ikään), kuin ei olisi huomannut mitään.

   Hän ei ollut huomaavinaan mitään. ― He behaved as if he hadn't noticed anything.

9. (auxiliary) to have (a verb to build active present perfect tense and active past perfect tense, taking active past participle, ending -nut/-nyt (singular) or -neet (pl.))

   Olen jo syönyt tänään. ― I have already eaten today.

   Olemme jo syöneet tänään. ― We have already eaten today.

   Olin jo syönyt. ― I had already eaten.

   Olimme jo syöneet. ― We had already eaten.

10. (auxiliary) to have (a verb to build impersonal simple past tense, impersonal passive present perfect tense and impersonal passive past perfect tense, taking passive past participle, ending -tu/-ty)

    Aamiainen oli jo syöty. ― Breakfast had already been eaten.

11. (intransitive, impersonal + genitive) to have to, must; be obliged/forced to [with nominative of present passive participle ‘to do’]

    Minun on nyt mentävä. ― I have to go now.

    Minun on palautettava kirja kirjastoon perjantaihin mennessä. ― I have to return the book to the library by Friday.

    Kirja on palautettava kirjastoon perjantaihin mennessä. (passive) ― The book has to be returned to the library by Friday.

    Onko sinut hiljennettävä pakolla? ― Do I have to make you shut your mouth? (literally, “Do you have to be quietened by force?”)

12. (transitive, usually atelic) to play a children's game

    Synonym: leikkiä

    • 2013, “Halihippa”, Tea Hiilloste (lyrics), performed by Tea:

      Sä ja mä ollaan halihippaa,yks ja kaks, toinen meistä karkaa...

      You and I are playing hug tag,one and two, one of us runs away...

Conjugations

Indicative Conjugations

The present, imperfect, perfect, and pluperfect (past perfect) tenses in English correspond to "speaks", "spoke", "has spoken", and "had spoken".

Conditional Conjugations

The conditional present and perfect moods in English typically correspond to "would" and "would have".