Päädyimme

Päädyimme is the past tense form of the Finnish verb päätyä, meaning to end up or to come to a certain state or place. It expresses a result or situation that has been reached as a consequence of prior actions, events, or circumstances. The form specifically marks first-person plural, indicating that the subject is we, including the speaker.

In usage, päätyminen often conveys that the outcome was not the result of a direct, deliberate decision. It emphasizes the end state rather than an intentional choice, and it can carry a sense of chance, inevitability, or gradual development. It is commonly used with phrases such as "siihen, että" (to that) or with infinitive constructions to describe what was arrived at as a result. For example: "Päädyimme lopulta keskustelemaan asiasta rauhassa" (We ended up, eventually, talking about the matter calmly) or "Päädyimme siihen, että jäisimme kotiin" (We ended up with the conclusion that we would stay home). Another example is "Päädyimme ostamaan vanhan talon, vaikka alun perin tarkoitus oli rakentaa uusi" (We ended up buying an old house, although the initial plan was to build a new one).

Compared with the verb päätää, which means to decide, päätyä/päätyminen emphasizes the resulting situation rather than an explicit, deliberate choice. The construction is common in narrative or reflective prose when describing how circumstances led to a particular outcome.

Morphologically, päädyimme is formed from the stem pääty-, plus the habitual past tense ending -imme, yielding the first-person plural past tense. The verb is intransitive and typically requires a complement that specifies the resulting state, place, or decision.