Tehtävänään

Tehtävänään is a Finnish noun form derived from tehtävä (task, duty) and the suffix -nään, used to express that something is someone’s assigned task or role. The form functions as a predicative complement and is most commonly found with a form of olla (to be) or with verbs that indicate taking on responsibility.

In use, tehtävänään designates the specific duty or assignment that a person has accepted or is charged with. It emphasizes the role or function rather than a simple activity. For example: “Hän otti tehtävänään vastata kysymyksiin,” meaning “He took on the task of answering questions.” Another common construction is “Hänen tehtävänään on …,” as in “Hänen tehtävänään on hoitaa projektin loppuun saattaminen,” meaning “His/her task is to complete the project.”

The expression tends to appear in formal, organizational, or written Finnish, such as job descriptions, reports, or official statements. In everyday speech, speakers often prefer alternative phrasings like “tehtäväni on …” (my task is …) or “minulla on tehtävä …” (I have the task of …).

Notes and nuances: tehtävänään conveys that a person has been assigned a duty or assumes a duty as part of a role, rather than performing a casual or incidental activity. It is one of several related forms built from tehtävä that express duties or roles, including similar constructions with tehtävänä or tehtäväkseen in other contexts.