---
title: "katotaan"
book_form: "katsotaan"
translation: "We'll see. Let's see. Let's have a look."
type: "word"
category: "puhekieli"
url: "https://finnishirl.com/words/katotaan"
canonical: "https://finnishirl.com/words/katotaan"
published: "2026-10-01"
updated: "2026-10-01"
author: "Andrey the Nomad"
site: "Finnish IRL"
license: "https://finnishirl.com/terms#ip"
---

# katotaan
URL: https://finnishirl.com/words/katotaan
Book form (kirjakieli): katsotaan
Translation: We'll see. Let's see. Let's have a look.
Pronunciation: /ˈkɑtotɑːn/
Category: puhekieli
Archetypes: silence, move
Region: Finland
Register: neutral spoken Finnish, everyday
Literal meaning: "It will be looked at" - the passive of katsoa, to look.
Tone and safety: Safe to say. The care needed is in hearing it, not in using it.
Published: 2026-10-01

Quick answer:
- Katotaan is the spoken form of katsotaan, "we'll see" - a genuine postponement, not a coded refusal.
- It resolves into a no more often than a foreigner expects, because a Finn who does not want to commit will not manufacture enthusiasm to fill the gap.
- A real no usually sounds like ei käy, en pysty or en ehdi - direct, and offered with a reason.

What it means:
- Katotaan means we'll see. It is the passive of katsoa, to look, and Finnish uses that passive as the ordinary way to propose something jointly - the same shape as mennään, "let's go", or otetaan, "let's take".
- Said about a plan, it parks the decision. Said about a problem, it means someone will look at it. Neither reading is a refusal on its own.

Book form vs spoken form:
- Katsotaan is the written form; the ts collapses to t in speech almost everywhere, giving katotaan. The same collapse turns katson into katon and katsotko into katotsä. Watch the imperative: katso becomes kato, which is also the ordinary word for loss or disappearance - sadon kato, katovuosi.
- This is a sound change, not a different word. If you learned katsotaan and cannot hear katotaan, you already know the word - you have just never heard it said.

How Finns use it:
- As a genuine hold: the answer is not yet known, so it is not being given.
- As a soft close, when someone does not want to say no in the moment but is not going to say yes later either. That is worth knowing, but do not over-read it: katotaan is about as non-committal as English "we'll see", no more and no less. The Finnish part is what surrounds it - nothing counts as a plan here until a time has been agreed.
- The thing that makes it readable is what happens next. A katotaan that is really a yes comes back with a time. A katotaan that is really a no is simply never raised again, by anybody.

Tone and safety:
- Nothing rude about it in either direction. The mistake is to hear it as the polite evasion it would be in a culture that avoids direct refusal - Finnish does not avoid direct refusal.
- Which is the useful part: when a Finn does mean no, you will usually get one. Ei käy, en pysty, en ehdi, ei sovi - short, clear, and normally with a reason attached, because giving the reason is how a negative answer is softened here rather than by hedging the answer itself.

Common mistake:
- Reading katotaan as a firm plan and turning up. It is not a commitment; it is the absence of one.
- The opposite error: treating it as an automatic no. Plenty of katotaans become plans. Ask again once, plainly, and you will get a plain answer.

Examples:
- Katotaan ens viikolla. - We'll see next week. (written: Katsotaan ensi viikolla.)
- Joo katotaan, mä en tiiä vielä aikatauluja. - Yeah, we'll see, I don't know my schedule yet. (written: Joo, katsotaan, en tiedä vielä aikatauluja.)
- Ei käy, mulla on jo menoa. - No, I've already got something on.

Mini dialogue:
A: Tuutsä mökille viikonloppuna?
B: Katotaan. Mä en tiiä vielä.
A: Ilmotatsä huomenna?
B: Joo, sanon.

FAQ:
Q: What does katotaan mean?
A: We'll see. It is the spoken form of katsotaan, the passive of katsoa, to look.

Q: Does katotaan mean no?
A: Not by itself. It is a genuine postponement, the same as English "we'll see". What differs is the surrounding norm: nothing is a plan in Finland until a time is agreed, so a katotaan left alone quietly stays nothing.

Q: How do Finns actually say no?
A: Directly, and usually with a reason: ei käy, en pysty, en ehdi, ei sovi. A negative answer is softened by explaining it, not by hedging it.

Q: Why is it katotaan and not katsotaan?
A: In speech the ts sequence collapses to t across most of the country. Katsotaan becomes katotaan and katson becomes katon. The imperative katso becomes kato - which is also the word for loss or disappearance.

Q: How do I tell whether a katotaan is a yes?
A: Ask once more, plainly, a day or two later. A yes comes back with a time. A no comes back as a short, clear no - or the subject is never raised again.

Related words: ehka, mennaan, joo-joo

Sources:
- VISK § 802 - Mennäänks meille, jooko, kai mä voin tulla (Iso suomen kielioppi, Kotimaisten kielten keskus): https://kaino.kotus.fi/visk/sisallys.php?p=802
- VISK § 1205 - explanation or justification in a negative answer (Iso suomen kielioppi, Kotimaisten kielten keskus): https://kaino.kotus.fi/visk/sisallys.php?p=1205
- Kielitoimiston sanakirja: katsoa (Kotimaisten kielten keskus): https://www.kielitoimistonsanakirja.fi/#/katsoa
- Kotus - Institute for the Languages of Finland (Kotimaisten kielten keskus): https://en.kotus.fi/
- VISK § 1201 - answering with a verb or a particle (Iso suomen kielioppi, Kotimaisten kielten keskus): https://kaino.kotus.fi/visk/sisallys.php?p=1201