kulua

Finnish

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *kuludak (compare Estonian kuluma, Livonian ku’llõ), from Proto-Finno-Ugric *kule- (compare Erzya каладомс (kaladoms), Northern Khanty [Term?], Northern Mansi [Term?]).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkuluɑˣ/, [ˈkuluɑ̝(ʔ)]
• Rhymes: -uluɑ
• Syllabification^(key): ku‧lu‧a
• Hyphenation^(key): ku‧lua

Verb

kulua (intransitive)

1. to wear (out/thin/down) (e.g. of clothes or parts)

   Maali kului parissa kymmenessä vuodessa pois.

   The paint wore off after a couple dozen years.

2. to get spent, be spent, go [with illative ‘on’] (of money)

   Rahaa kului paljon.

   Much money was spent.

3. to be/get consumed (of resources, food, etc.); to get eaten (of food)

   Kaikki ruoka kului juhlissa.

   All the food at the party was consumed/eaten.

4. to go by, pass by, pass off, elapse (of time) [with elative ‘since’]

   Vuosituhannen vaihde kului ilman katastrofeja.

   The turn of the millennium passed off without any disasters.

   Aika kuluu nopeasti.

   Time goes by [so] fast.

5. (figuratively) to be hackneyed, to become trite; to become uninteresting by (too) frequent use

   Lukija tympääntyy helposti kuluneisiin lauseenparsiin.

   Readers quickly get fed up with hackneyed phrases.

Conjugation

Inflection of kulua (Kotus type 52/sanoa, no gradation)
indicative mood
present tense				perfect
person		positive	negative	person	positive	negative
1st sing.		kulun	en kulu	1st sing.	olen kulunut	en ole kulunut
2nd sing.		kulut	et kulu	2nd sing.	olet kulunut	et ole kulunut
3rd sing.		kuluu	ei kulu	3rd sing.	on kulunut	ei ole kulunut
1st plur.		kulumme	emme kulu	1st plur.	olemme kuluneet	emme ole kuluneet
2nd plur.		kulutte	ette kulu	2nd plur.	olette kuluneet	ette ole kuluneet
3rd plur.		kuluvat	eivät kulu	3rd plur.	ovat kuluneet	eivät ole kuluneet
passive		kulutaan	ei kuluta	passive	on kuluttu	ei ole kuluttu
past tense				pluperfect
person		positive	negative	person	positive	negative
1st sing.		kuluin	en kulunut	1st sing.	olin kulunut	en ollut kulunut
2nd sing.		kuluit	et kulunut	2nd sing.	olit kulunut	et ollut kulunut
3rd sing.		kului	ei kulunut	3rd sing.	oli kulunut	ei ollut kulunut
1st plur.		kuluimme	emme kuluneet	1st plur.	olimme kuluneet	emme olleet kuluneet
2nd plur.		kuluitte	ette kuluneet	2nd plur.	olitte kuluneet	ette olleet kuluneet
3rd plur.		kuluivat	eivät kuluneet	3rd plur.	olivat kuluneet	eivät olleet kuluneet
passive		kuluttiin	ei kuluttu	passive	oli kuluttu	ei ollut kuluttu
conditional mood
present				perfect
person		positive	negative	person	positive	negative
1st sing.		kuluisin	en kuluisi	1st sing.	olisin kulunut	en olisi kulunut
2nd sing.		kuluisit	et kuluisi	2nd sing.	olisit kulunut	et olisi kulunut
3rd sing.		kuluisi	ei kuluisi	3rd sing.	olisi kulunut	ei olisi kulunut
1st plur.		kuluisimme	emme kuluisi	1st plur.	olisimme kuluneet	emme olisi kuluneet
2nd plur.		kuluisitte	ette kuluisi	2nd plur.	olisitte kuluneet	ette olisi kuluneet
3rd plur.		kuluisivat	eivät kuluisi	3rd plur.	olisivat kuluneet	eivät olisi kuluneet
passive		kuluttaisiin	ei kuluttaisi	passive	olisi kuluttu	ei olisi kuluttu
imperative mood
present				perfect
person		positive	negative	person	positive	negative
1st sing.		—	—	1st sing.	—	—
2nd sing.		kulu	älä kulu	2nd sing.	—	—
3rd sing.		kulukoon	älköön kuluko	3rd sing.	olkoon kulunut	älköön olko kulunut
1st plur.		kulukaamme	älkäämme kuluko	1st plur.	—	—
2nd plur.		kulukaa	älkää kuluko	2nd plur.	—	—
3rd plur.		kulukoot	älkööt kuluko	3rd plur.	olkoot kuluneet	älkööt olko kuluneet
passive		kuluttakoon	älköön kuluttako	passive	olkoon kuluttu	älköön olko kuluttu
potential mood
present				perfect
person		positive	negative	person	positive	negative
1st sing.		kulunen	en kulune	1st sing.	lienen kulunut	en liene kulunut
2nd sing.		kulunet	et kulune	2nd sing.	lienet kulunut	et liene kulunut
3rd sing.		kulunee	ei kulune	3rd sing.	lienee kulunut	ei liene kulunut
1st plur.		kulunemme	emme kulune	1st plur.	lienemme kuluneet	emme liene kuluneet
2nd plur.		kulunette	ette kulune	2nd plur.	lienette kuluneet	ette liene kuluneet
3rd plur.		kulunevat	eivät kulune	3rd plur.	lienevät kuluneet	eivät liene kuluneet
passive		kuluttaneen	ei kuluttane	passive	lienee kuluttu	ei liene kuluttu
Nominal forms
infinitives				participles
		active	passive		active	passive
1st		kulua		present	kuluva	kuluttava
long 1st1		Possessive forms Person sing. plur. 1st kuluakseni kuluaksemme 2nd kuluaksesi kuluaksenne 3rd kuluakseen kuluaksensa		past	kulunut	kuluttu
2nd	inessive2	kuluessa	kuluttaessa	agent4	kuluma
		Possessive forms Person sing. plur. 1st kuluessani kuluessamme 2nd kuluessasi kuluessanne 3rd kuluessaan kuluessansa		negative	kulumaton
	instructive	kuluen	—	1) Used only with a possessive suffix. 2) Usually with a possessive suffix (active only). 3) Some uses of the verbal noun are called the 'fourth infinitive' by certain sources (more details). 4) Usually with a possessive suffix. May not be used with all verbs, especially intransitive ones (more details). Distinct from nouns with the -ma suffix and third infinitive forms.
3rd	inessive	kulumassa	—
	elative	kulumasta	—
	illative	kulumaan	—
	adessive	kulumalla	—
	abessive	kulumatta	—
	instructive	kuluman	kuluttaman
4th3	verbal noun	kuluminen
5th1		Possessive forms Person sing. plur. 1st kulumaisillani kulumaisillamme 2nd kulumaisillasi kulumaisillanne 3rd kulumaisillaan kulumaisillansa

Derived terms

adjectives

• kulumaton
• kulunut
• kuluva

nouns

• kulu
• kuluma
• kuluminen
• kulunki
• kulut

postpositions

• kuluessa
• kuluttua

verbs

• kulahtaa
• kuluttaa

Collocations

• kulua hukkaan ― to be wasted/squandered
• kulua loppuun ― to be depleted, be exhausted
• kulua umpeen ― to expire, be up
• kulua vähiin ― to (be) run(ning) out

Further reading

• “kulua”, 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 2 July 2023

Anagrams

• kuula, lukua