Hengitetään

Hengitetään isän Finnish word and the present passive form of the verb hengittää, meaning to breathe. It describes the action of breathing without specifying who performs it. The form is used in impersonal statements, descriptions of physiological processes, and in instructional or scientific texts where the agent is unknown or not relevant. In Finnish, the present passive is formed with the suffix -tään/-ään to the verb stem, giving hengitetään as the form for hengittää.

Usage and nuance: Hengitetään can express general truths or neutral observations about respiration. It is common in medical, biological, or ergonomic writings, as well as in manuals or explanations where the focus is on the process rather than on the actor. The meaning can be rendered in English as “is breathed” or “one breathes” depending on context.

Examples:

- Happi hengitetään keuhkoihin. (Oxygen is breathed into the lungs.)

- Ilmaa hengitetään nenän kautta. (Air is breathed in through the nose.)

Grammatical notes: Because it is passive, the agent performing the action may be omitted. The construction tends to appear in formal or informational text rather than colloquial speech, where active forms are more common.

Related forms: The active counterpart is hengittää (to breathe). Noun forms include hengitys (breathing, the act of breathing) and hengittäminen (the act of breathing). The word group is central to discussions of respiration, physiology, and related health topics in Finnish. The term derives from the root heng-, connected to the concept of breath, and is closely linked to hengitys as the noun for breathing.