Ota vain puolet.

Take only half.

Breakdown of Ota vain puolet.

• vain: only
• ottaa: to take
• puoli: the half; one side

Questions & Answers about Ota vain puolet.

What form is ota?

Ota is the 2nd person singular imperative of ottaa (to take).

So it means take! when speaking to one person.

Examples:

• Ota se. = Take it.
• Älä ota sitä. = Don’t take it.
• Ottakaa se. = Take it. (said to more than one person, or more formally)

In Ota vain puolet, the speaker is giving an instruction or permission to one person.

Where is the word you in the sentence?

In Finnish, the subject you is usually not stated in commands.

So:

• Ota vain puolet. literally corresponds to Take only half.

You could add sinä for emphasis, but normally you would not:

• Sinä ota vain puolet.

That sounds marked or contrastive, something like:

• You take only half.

So the normal everyday version is simply Ota vain puolet.

What does vain mean here?