Puolittuu

Puolittuu is a Finnish verb form meaning “to be halved” or “to halve itself.” It is the third-person singular present tense form used in a passive or middle voice of the verb puolittaa, which means to halve something. The form signals that the subject undergoes halving as part of a process, rather than because an agent actively halves it.

Usage and scope

Puolittuu appears in both everyday language and technical or descriptive writing to describe reductions in quantity, size, or degree. It is commonly used with abstract quantities such as data, budgets, populations, or timeframes, but can also describe physical quantities. The emphasis is on the change happening to the subject itself, rather than on someone performing the halving.

Grammar and related forms

Puolitti is the root verb meaning “to halve.” The active counterpart is puolittaa, which means to halve something by action. Related passive or indirect forms include puolitetaan (is halved by someone) and puolittuu (is halved, typically without naming the agent of change). The form puolittuu is appropriate with inanimate or non-agentive subjects and often appears in analytical or reporting contexts.

Examples

In practice, one might say: The budget puolittuu over the year due to tightened resources. The data sample puolittuu in size when incomplete records are discarded. The population puolittuu under drought conditions. These constructions illustrate halving as a process affecting the subject without specifying an agent. See also puolittaa and related passive forms.