The Passive Voice
The passive voice is used when the doer of an action is unknown, unimportant, or general (translating to English as "is done" or "people do"). In everyday spoken Finnish, it is also widely used to mean "we".
The Passive Object
Unlike in active sentences where a complete object usually takes the -n ending, the object of a passive sentence is placed in the nominative case (the basic dictionary form without an extra ending).
| The law is written in Finland. | Laki kirjoitetaan Suomessa. |
Plural objects use their standard nominative plural form (ending in -t).
| In Finland, taxes are always paid on time. | Suomessa verot maksetaan aina ajoissa. |
When an object has adjectives modifying it, they also remain in the nominative case to match the noun.
| A good society is built together. | Hyvä yhteiskunta rakennetaan yhdessä. |
The passive voice is frequently used without any object at all to describe general actions.
| When do people vote here? | Milloin täällä äänestetään? |
Forming the Passive
For the most common verbs (Verb Type 1), form the present passive by taking the weak stem (the same stem used for the "I" form), changing the final -a or -ä to -e-, and adding -taan or -tään.
Because the passive is built on the weak stem, strong consonants weaken. For example, the double tt in päättää becomes a single t, and the lt in kieltää becomes ll.
| The matter is decided tomorrow. | Asiasta päätetään huomenna. |
| It is forbidden in the new law. | Se kielletään uudessa laissa. |
If a verb ends in -ia or -iä (like sallia, to allow), the final -a or -ä drops out entirely instead of changing to an -e-.
| Only small animals are allowed here. | Täällä sallitaan vain pienet eläimet. |