Menehtyi

Menehtyi is the third-person singular past tense form of the Finnish verb menehtyä, which means to perish or die. The infinitive menehtyä is an intransitive verb; its forms are used to describe the end of life. The corresponding past participle is menehtynyt, used in perfect constructions such as “on menehtynyt” (has perished).

Usage and nuance

Menehtyä is a formal, solemn term often found in obituaries, news reports, medical or historical accounts, and other contexts where death is reported with a degree of gravity. It can imply death due to illness, injury, or natural causes, and is generally more literary or ceremonious than the more everyday kuolla (to die). The expression may foreground the ending of life rather than the cause.

Examples

- Hän menehtyi syöpään. (He died of cancer.)

- Monia sotiemme aikana menetti rakkaansa ja moni suomalainen menehtyi. (Many, during wartime, lost loved ones and perished.)

Related forms

- Menehtynyt: past participle, used in constructions like “on menehtynyt” (has perished).

- Menehtyminen: the noun form meaning perishing.

- Menehtyvät: present plural form, “they perish.”

See also

- Kuolla, kuolema: other common Finnish terms for death with different formal or stylistic nuances.

- Obituary writing and historical reporting styles in Finnish.