Nieletään

Nieletään is a Finnish verb form meaning “is swallowed” or “are swallowed.” It is the present passive form of the verb nieleä, which means to swallow. In Finnish, the passive voice is used to describe actions without naming the actor, and nieletään is common in instructions, medical contexts, and neutral descriptions.

Morphology and usage: Nieletään is a finite verb in the present tense and passive mood. The subject is typically indefinite or unknown, and the agent is often omitted. The form does not change for number; it can refer to either a singular or a plural subject depending on context. The construction comes from the verb stem niele- plus the passive marker and present-tense ending, yielding nieletään.

Usage and examples: Pillerit nieletään ohjeiden mukaan. (The pills are swallowed according to the instructions.) Lääkkeet nieletään kerran päivässä ohjeiden mukaan. (The medicines are swallowed once a day according to the instructions.) In these contexts, nieletään conveys generality or instruction rather than attributing the action to a specific person.

Translation and nuance: In English, nieletään is typically rendered as “is swallowed” or, when the agent is implied, as “one swallows.” The passive form is a hallmark of neutral, impersonal statements in Finnish, suitable for manuals, medical literature, and descriptive text.