sataa

Finnish

Etymology 1

From Proto-Finnic *satadak (“to fall”), from Proto-Uralic *śada-, possibly from Indo-Iranian.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɑtɑːˣ/, [ˈs̠ɑ̝t̪ɑ̝ː(ʔ)]
• Rhymes: -ɑtɑː
• Syllabification^(key): sa‧taa

Verb

sataa (transitive, usually atelic, impersonal)

1. (meteorology) to precipitate (to have water in the air fall to the ground): to rain, snow, sleet, hail

   sataa kaatamalla ― to rain cats and dogs

   Sataa (vettä). ― It's raining.

   Huomenna sataa, mutta emme tiedä, tuleeko se vetenä vai lumena.

   It will precipitate tomorrow, but we don't know whether as rain or snow.

2. (also figuratively) to rain (fall down from the sky like rain)

   Minä menen ulos, vaikka (taivaalta) sataisi puukkoja!

   I'm going out even if it's raining knives!

   (literally, “I'm going out even if knives should be falling from the sky!”)

Usage notes

• The same verb is used for all kinds of precipitation, whether it be rain, snow, sleet, hail or something else. If there is no context for which one is meant, sataa on its own is generally understood to refer to rain. The kind can be explicitly specified with modifiers:

  sataa vettä ― to rain

  sataa tihkua ― to drizzle

  sataa lunta ― to snow

  sataa räntää ― to sleet

  sataa rakeita ― to hail

• Although this verb can be used alone (as the single word sataa), it is very often used with an adverb of place, for example siellä (“there”). Since such adverbs are usually added without any literal meaning, they often don't need to be translated, but similar idiomatic use exists in English and other languages:

  (Siellä) sataa.

  It's raining (out/outside).

Conjugation

Inflection of sataa (Kotus type 56*F/kaivaa, t-d gradation)
indicative mood
present tense				perfect
person		positive	negative	person	positive	negative
1st sing.		sadan	en sada	1st sing.	olen satanut	en ole satanut
2nd sing.		sadat	et sada	2nd sing.	olet satanut	et ole satanut
3rd sing.		sataa	ei sada	3rd sing.	on satanut	ei ole satanut
1st plur.		sadamme	emme sada	1st plur.	olemme sataneet	emme ole sataneet
2nd plur.		sadatte	ette sada	2nd plur.	olette sataneet	ette ole sataneet
3rd plur.		satavat	eivät sada	3rd plur.	ovat sataneet	eivät ole sataneet
passive		sadetaan	ei sadeta	passive	on sadettu	ei ole sadettu
past tense				pluperfect
person		positive	negative	person	positive	negative
1st sing.		sadoin	en satanut	1st sing.	olin satanut	en ollut satanut
2nd sing.		sadoit	et satanut	2nd sing.	olit satanut	et ollut satanut
3rd sing.		satoi	ei satanut	3rd sing.	oli satanut	ei ollut satanut
1st plur.		sadoimme	emme sataneet	1st plur.	olimme sataneet	emme olleet sataneet
2nd plur.		sadoitte	ette sataneet	2nd plur.	olitte sataneet	ette olleet sataneet
3rd plur.		satoivat	eivät sataneet	3rd plur.	olivat sataneet	eivät olleet sataneet
passive		sadettiin	ei sadettu	passive	oli sadettu	ei ollut sadettu
conditional mood
present				perfect
person		positive	negative	person	positive	negative
1st sing.		sataisin	en sataisi	1st sing.	olisin satanut	en olisi satanut
2nd sing.		sataisit	et sataisi	2nd sing.	olisit satanut	et olisi satanut
3rd sing.		sataisi	ei sataisi	3rd sing.	olisi satanut	ei olisi satanut
1st plur.		sataisimme	emme sataisi	1st plur.	olisimme sataneet	emme olisi sataneet
2nd plur.		sataisitte	ette sataisi	2nd plur.	olisitte sataneet	ette olisi sataneet
3rd plur.		sataisivat	eivät sataisi	3rd plur.	olisivat sataneet	eivät olisi sataneet
passive		sadettaisiin	ei sadettaisi	passive	olisi sadettu	ei olisi sadettu
imperative mood
present				perfect
person		positive	negative	person	positive	negative
1st sing.		—	—	1st sing.	—	—
2nd sing.		sada	älä sada	2nd sing.	—	—
3rd sing.		satakoon	älköön satako	3rd sing.	olkoon satanut	älköön olko satanut
1st plur.		satakaamme	älkäämme satako	1st plur.	—	—
2nd plur.		satakaa	älkää satako	2nd plur.	—	—
3rd plur.		satakoot	älkööt satako	3rd plur.	olkoot sataneet	älkööt olko sataneet
passive		sadettakoon	älköön sadettako	passive	olkoon sadettu	älköön olko sadettu
potential mood
present				perfect
person		positive	negative	person	positive	negative
1st sing.		satanen	en satane	1st sing.	lienen satanut	en liene satanut
2nd sing.		satanet	et satane	2nd sing.	lienet satanut	et liene satanut
3rd sing.		satanee	ei satane	3rd sing.	lienee satanut	ei liene satanut
1st plur.		satanemme	emme satane	1st plur.	lienemme sataneet	emme liene sataneet
2nd plur.		satanette	ette satane	2nd plur.	lienette sataneet	ette liene sataneet
3rd plur.		satanevat	eivät satane	3rd plur.	lienevät sataneet	eivät liene sataneet
passive		sadettaneen	ei sadettane	passive	lienee sadettu	ei liene sadettu
Nominal forms
infinitives				participles
		active	passive		active	passive
1st		sataa		present	satava	sadettava
long 1st1		Possessive forms Person sing. plur. 1st sataakseni sataaksemme 2nd sataaksesi sataaksenne 3rd sataakseen sataaksensa		past	satanut	sadettu
2nd	inessive2	sataessa	sadettaessa	agent3	satama
		Possessive forms Person sing. plur. 1st sataessani sataessamme 2nd sataessasi sataessanne 3rd sataessaan sataessansa		negative	satamaton
	instructive	sataen	—	1) Used only with a possessive suffix. 2) Usually with a possessive suffix (active only). 3) Usually with a possessive suffix. Not used with intransitive verbs. Distinct from nouns with the -ma suffix and third infinitive forms. 4) Some uses of the verbal noun are called the 'fourth infinitive' by certain sources (more details). * The third-person singular indicative form sataa does not exhibit final gemination, unlike the first infinitive (the lemma form), even though they are spelled identically.
3rd	inessive	satamassa	—
	elative	satamasta	—
	illative	satamaan	—
	adessive	satamalla	—
	abessive	satamatta	—
	instructive	sataman	sadettaman
4th4	verbal noun	sataminen
5th1		Possessive forms Person sing. plur. 1st satamaisillani satamaisillamme 2nd satamaisillasi satamaisillanne 3rd satamaisillaan satamaisillansa

Derived terms

• neljäsataa
• parisataa
• toistasataa

 

nouns

• sadanta
• sade
• sadin
• sataminen
• sato

 

verbs

• sadella

 

Further reading

• “sataa”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-01

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɑtɑː/, [ˈs̠ɑ̝t̪ɑ̝ː]
• Rhymes: -ɑtɑː
• Syllabification^(key): sa‧taa

Numeral

sataa

1. partitive singular of sata

   Hän yrittää hoitaa sataa asiaa samanaikaisesti.

   She's trying to manage a hundred things at the same time.

   sata, kaksisataa, kolmesataa... ― one hundred, two hundred, three hundred...

Anagrams

• aasta, saata, tasaa

Votic

Pronunciation

• (Luutsa, Liivtšülä) IPA^(key): /ˈsɑtɑː/, [ˈsɑtːɑ]
• Rhymes: -ɑtɑː
• Hyphenation: sa‧taa

Verb

sataa

1. Alternative spelling of satta

References

• Hallap, V., Adler, E., Grünberg, S., Leppik, M. (2012) Vadja keele sõnaraamat [A dictionary of the Votic language], 2nd edition, Tallinn