Päätetyn

Päätetyn is a Finnish grammatical form: it is the genitive singular form of the past passive participle päätetty, which comes from the verb päättää meaning to decide or to determine. In Finnish, past participles can be used as adjectives, and their inflection follows adjective-like patterns. The genitive singular ending -n appears when the participle is used to modify a noun in the genitive case or in phrases where the head noun is in genitive.

In practice, päätetyn typically appears in formal or legal and administrative Finnish. It conveys the sense of “the one that has been decided” or “the decided,” and it is most often part of a larger noun phrase rather than a standalone word. The form is especially common in phrases that mean “according to/under the rules of the decided [law, plan, program, etc.],” where the following noun is in genitive: for example, päätetyn lain nojalla can be translated as “under the law that has been decided” or more naturally “according to the decided law.” Other common constructions include päätetyn ohjelman toteuttaminen or päätetyn suunnitelman seuraaminen, where the noun after the participle is in genitive.

Usage notes: päätetyn serves as a grammatical tool to reference a decision that has already been made, often in written or bureaucratic Finnish. It is not a separate lexical item with its own standalone meaning; rather, it is a inflected form of päätetty used to form attributive phrases. In everyday speech, speakers may opt for simpler expressions such as päätetty tai tehty to convey a similar idea, depending on context and style.

See also: Finnish participles as adjectives, genitive construction in Finnish, legal Finnish style.