olla tehtävissä

Being Possible (-tavissa)

Level 4

The olla tehtävissä construction indicates possibility or feasibility. It translates to 'can be done', 'is doable', or 'is available'.

How It Works

The olla tehtävissä pattern is a way to express that an action is capable of being performed on a subject. Note that the participle itself is always in the plural form (-issa/-issä), regardless of whether the subject is singular or plural.

1. Formation:
The pattern is formed by taking the passive present participle (the -tava/-tävä form) and replacing the final -a/-ä with plural -i- and adding the inessive ending -ssa/-ssä.

  • lukea → luettava → luettavissa (readable/can be read)
  • korjata → korjattava → korjattavissa (repairable)
  • tehdä → tehtävä → tehtävissä (doable)

Common daily-life examples include saatavissa (available) and tavoitettavissa (reachable/contactable).

2. Usage:
The auxiliary verb olla (to Be) links the subject to the participle. While the verb usually agrees with the subject, it remains in the 3rd person singular in existential clauses with a partitive subject.

  • Asia on tehtävissä. (The matter is doable.)
  • Ratkaisuja on löydettävissä. (Solutions are to be found / can be found.)

3. Expressing 'For Whom':
To specify for whom something is possible, you use a genitive pronoun or noun. If a personal pronoun is used, the possessive suffix (-ni, -si, -nsa, -mme, -nne) is mandatory. For 1st and 2nd person, the pronoun itself is optional, but for the 3rd person (hänen, heidän), the pronoun is mandatory unless it refers back to the subject.
Example: Se on (minun) käytettävissäni. (It is at my disposal.)

Further Connections

  • passive participle -tu/-ty: This pattern uses the passive present participle (-tava/-tävä) as its base, which is the present counterpart to the passive past participle (-tu/-ty).

Examples (5)

  1. Onko tämä auto vielä korjattavissa?

    Is this car still repairable?

    Word by Word: Is-it this car still repair-able-in?

    Uses the verb 'korjata' (to repair) to ask if the action of repairing is possible.

  2. Mitään ei ole enää tehtävissä.

    Nothing can be done anymore.

    Word by Word: Nothing not is anymore do-able-in.

    A common phrase using 'tehdä' (to do) to indicate that no further actions are possible.

  3. Tämä tiedosto on kaikkien ladattavissa.

    This file is downloadable by everyone.

    Word by Word: This file is everyone's download-able-in.

    Shows how the genitive 'kaikkien' (everyone's) indicates who can perform the action.

  4. Revontulet olivat eilen selvästi nähtävissä.

    The Northern Lights were clearly visible yesterday.

    Word by Word: Northern-lights were yesterday clearly see-able-in.

    Uses 'nähdä' (to see) to express that the lights were in a state where they could be seen.

  5. Olen koko päivän teidän käytettävissänne.

    I am at your disposal all day.

    Word by Word: I-am whole day your use-able-in-your.

    Uses 'käyttää' (to use) with a possessive suffix to show availability.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the singular form (-ttavana) to express simple possibility.

    Se on tehtävänä.
    Se on tehtävissä.

    Tehtävänä is an essive form: Se on tehtävänä can describe something assigned as a task. Tehtävissä expresses feasibility. Both are grammatical, but they do not mean the same thing.

  • Forgetting vowel harmony in the ending.

    Se on nähtävissa.
    Se on nähtävissä.

    Because 'nähdä' contains front vowels (ä), the ending must also use front vowels (-issä).

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

olla tehtävissäLevel 4Being Possible (-tavissa)

Learn This First

To understand the 'olla tehtävissä' construction, you need to know how to form the passive participle, how to create plural stems using the -i- marker, and how the inessive case (-ssa) functions when applied to these stems.

Words in This Pattern

olla