Get the appGet the app
Finnish frequency list

No. 297 in Finnish

ollaan

The Finnish word "ollaan" is the passive present tense form of "olla," meaning "is/are being" or "one is/are."

In a sentence

  • Me ollaan ystäviä.

    We are friends.

    Here, 'ollaan' functions as the first person plural of the verb 'olla' meaning 'to be', used in a colloquial manner instead of 'olemme'.

  • Pihalla ollaan odottamassa bussia.

    We are outside waiting for the bus.

    In this example, 'ollaan' is used in an impersonal or general sense representing the action 'to be (waiting)' as ongoing in an unspecified or collective manner.

  • Ollaan sitä joskus matkailtu.

    We have traveled sometimes.

    Here, 'ollaan' serves as an auxiliary in forming the passive past perfect 'ollaan matkailtu', used in an impersonal sense to describe a collective action completed in the past.

Hear it in real podcasts

The recording above is a synthetic voice. Hear how people say “ollaan” in actual Finnish podcasts.

Find “ollaan” in podcasts

Learn it from shows you like

LangTurbo plays Finnish podcasts with a transcript and the English under every line. Tap a word like this one and it tells you what it means right there. For iPhone, iPad and Android.

Learning English?

LangTurbo plays real English podcasts with every line translated into suomi, and tells you what any word means in that sentence. For iPhone, iPad and Android.

Finnish books and courses on Amazon (an affiliate link: a purchase through it supports this site).