# lopettaa = finish?



## Gavril

Moippa kaikki,

In the last thread, I wrote this sentence with the verb _lopettaa_ --



> - _Sitä paitsi, että myöhästyit tänään  puolitoista tuntia, sinulla on myös kaksi isoa tehtävää, jotka oli __ lopetettava __viime viikolla! _



which Altazure then corrected:



> Sana  "lopetettava" ei toimi tässä yhteydessä; toisin kuin englannin   "finish", suomen "lopettaa" ei sisällä merkitystä "complete", "saada   valmiiksi".



The WSOY dictionary lists "finish" as a possible translation of _lopettaa_, so there seems to be a nuance of _lopettaa_ that I don't quite understand.

Would _lopettaa _work in any of these sentences?

_
Minulta meni kaksi kuukautta kuvanveiston lopettamiseen.

Rakennustöiden lopettaminen vei kuusi kuukautta.

Suvi toi kaksi sankoa kaivoon ja yritti nostaa vettä, mutta vipu oli hyvin ruosteinen. Tunnin kuluttua hän ei ollut vielä lopettanut._


Kiitos ajastanne


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## Hakro

Gavril said:


> Would _lopettaa _work in any of these sentences?
> 
> Minulta meni kaksi kuukautta kuvanveiston lopettamiseen. (veistoksen viimeistelyyn? – En oikein ymmärrä ajatustasi.)
> 
> Rakennustöiden viimeistely / valmistuminen vei kuusi kuukautta.
> 
> Suvi toi kaksi sankoa kaivo*lle* ja yritti nostaa vettä, mutta vipu oli hyvin ruosteinen. Tunnin kuluttua hän ei ollut vielä lopettanut. "Tunnin kuluttua hän vielä jatkoi vedennostoa" tai "Tunnin kuluttua hän ei ollut vielä saanut sankojaan täyteen" kuulostaisi paremmin suomalaiselta)


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## Gavril

> Minulta meni kaksi kuukautta kuvanveiston lopettamiseen. (veistoksen viimeistelyyn? – En oikein ymmärrä ajatustasi.)



Niin, tarkoitin "viimeistelyä".



> Suvi toi kaksi sankoa kaivo*lle* ja yritti nostaa vettä, mutta vipu oli hyvin ruosteinen. Tunnin kuluttua hän ei ollut vielä lopettanut. "Tunnin  kuluttua hän vielä jatkoi vedennostoa" tai "Tunnin kuluttua hän ei  ollut vielä saanut sankojaan täyteen" kuulostaisi paremmin  suomalaiselta)



Would you say that it's acceptable (though uncommon) to say "lopettaa veden nostaminen kaivosta", or does the meaning of_ lopettaa_ not fit this context at all?

Kiitos vielä kerran


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## Hakro

Gavril said:


> Would you say that it's acceptable (though uncommon) to say "lopettaa veden nostaminen kaivosta", or does the meaning of_ lopettaa_ not fit this context at all?


It depends. Sometimes it fits:
_- Hän lopetti veden nostamisen saatuaan saavin täyteen._
Even your example could work in a certain context:
_- Hänet määrättiin vain puoleksi tunniksi nostamaan vettä, mutta tunnin kuluttua hän ei ollut vielä lopettanut._


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## Gavril

Hakro said:


> It depends. Sometimes it fits:
> _- Hän lopetti veden nostamisen saatuaan saavin täyteen._
> Even your example could work in a certain context:
> _- Hänet määrättiin vain puoleksi tunniksi nostamaan vettä, mutta tunnin kuluttua hän ei ollut vielä lopettanut._



Hmm. The WSOY dictionary gives at least two examples in which _lopettaa_ is translated as "to finish":

_lopettaa työnsä_ "to finish one's work"
_lopettaa syöminen_ "to finish eating"

Could you say _lopetin työni _if you stopped working right in the middle of a job (because the work-day was over), and would you normally say _lopetin syömisen_ if you stopped eating right in the middle of a meal (because you had to go somewhere else)?


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## Hakro

Gavril said:


> Could you say _lopetin työni _if you stopped working right in the middle of a job (because the work-day was over), and would you normally say _lopetin syömisen_ if you stopped eating right in the middle of a meal (because you had to go somewhere else)?


Yes and yes.


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## Gavril

Hakro said:


> Yes and yes.



Thanks. Based on this, I suspect that the translation of _lopettaa_ as "finish" (by WSOY and other dictionaries) is a little bit misleading. The verb _finish_ (as I understand it) usually means to bring an action to completion, whereas it seems that _lopettaa_ means to stop doing something, regardless of whether you've reached the point of completion or not.

There might be situations where you stop doing something because you've finished it, so the meaning of _lopettaa _would overlap with that of _finish_, but that alone doesn't justify listing "finish" as the primary definition of _lopettaa_ in dictionaries.


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## Hakro

Gavril said:


> Thanks. Based on this, I suspect that the translation of _lopettaa_ as "finish" (by WSOY and other dictionaries) is a little bit misleading. The verb _finish_ (as I understand it) usually means to bring an action to completion, whereas it seems that _lopettaa_ means to stop doing something, regardless of whether you've reached the point of completion or not.
> 
> There might be situations where you stop doing something because you've finished it, so the meaning of _lopettaa _would overlap with that of _finish_, but that alone doesn't justify listing "finish" as the primary definition of _lopettaa_ in dictionaries.


You are absolutely right, Gavril.


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## akana

Gavril said:


> Thanks. Based on this, I suspect that the translation of _lopettaa_ as "finish" (by WSOY and other dictionaries) is a little bit misleading. The verb _finish_ (as I understand it) usually means to bring an action to completion, whereas it seems that _lopettaa_ means to stop doing something, regardless of whether you've reached the point of completion or not.
> 
> There might be situations where you stop doing something because you've finished it, so the meaning of _lopettaa _would overlap with that of _finish_, but that alone doesn't justify listing "finish" as the primary definition of _lopettaa_ in dictionaries.



This has always confused me as well. My Finnish dictionary (Suomen kielen perussanakirja) explicitly says as definition 1 for _lopettaa_: 
_"suorittaa jnk työn t. toiminnan viimeinen vaihe, tehdä jk valmiiksi, saattaa jk loppuun, päätökseen"_ 

In addition, it lists an interesting example:
_"Oli l:tamassa ruokailuaan."_

...using the partitive and the 3rd infinitive, which implies an extended action consistent with "finish:" "Was finishing his/her meal." It's difficult to imagine an instance in which we would say, "was stopping his/her meal."

Yet Finns seem quite consistent about _lopettaa_ not fitting that usage very well, and frankly, it sounds too sudden and too close to _loppu_ for me to ever feel very comfortable using it for "finish." 

Maybe it's a literary usage that has become very rare?


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