epäillä

From evätä +‎ -illä.

• IPA^(key): /ˈepæi̯lːæˣ/, [ˈe̞pæi̯lːæ(ʔ)]
• Rhymes: -epæilːæ
• Hyphenation^(key): epäil‧lä

epäillä (usually atelic)

1. (transitive) to doubt, question, wonder, be skeptical about, be doubtful
2. (transitive) to think, suspect, guess, imagine, conjecture, surmise, hypothesise/hypothesize, believe, suppose
3. (transitive) to suspect, mistrust, (be) distrust(ful of), be suspicious of, harbour/harbor suspicions of, be apprehensive about, believe guilty [with elative ‘of’]

   Miestä epäillään murhasta. ― The man is suspected of murder.

4. (intransitive) to feel uncertain, lack conviction, be indecisive, waver

• The verb can mean both "to suspect" (think that someone did something) and "to doubt" (think that someone wouldn't have done something). The difference often depends on the context, and alternatives may be preferred to avoid ambiguity, such as using luulla for "to suspect" (although it has the connotation of a stronger belief than epäillä) and "to not believe" (ei + uskoa) for "to doubt".
  • The meaning "to suspect" is more common with subordinate clauses using että that have the verb in indicative mood, and is practically the only interpretation when the genitive of a participle is used (generally considered fairly formal).

    Epäilen, että teit sen. ― I suspect you did it.

    Epäilen sinun tehneen sen. ― I suspect you did it.

  • The meaning "to doubt" is more common with the verb in conditional mood, and is practically the only interpretation with tag questions formed with -ko.

    Epäilen, että olisit tehnyt sen. ― I doubt you would have done it. (but also possibly I suspect you would have done it.)

    Epäilen, teitkö sitä. ― I doubt (whether) you did it.

• (to think, suspect, guess, imagine, conjecture, surmise, hypothesize, believe, suppose): uumoilla, luulla

• “epäillä”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02