Tuhoutuu

Tuhoutuu is a Finnish verb meaning “to be destroyed” or “to be ruined.” It describes the state or process by which something, typically inanimate, ceases to exist or loses its function. The form tuhoutuu is the third-person singular present (or simple present) and is used to indicate that destruction is occurring or is imminent, often without specifying an agent. The present tense can also express a future meaning in context.

The infinitive is tuhoutua. The simple past tense is tuhoutui, as in “Kaupunki tuhoutui tulipalossa,” meaning “The city was destroyed in the fire.” The past participle is tuhoutunut, used in perfect constructions such as “Kaupunki on tuhoutunut,” meaning “The city has been destroyed.” Finnish also uses other related forms such as tuhoutuminen (the process of destruction) and tuhoutuminen is often discussed as a phenomenon or event.

Grammatically, tuhoutua is intransitive in the sense that the destruction happens to the subject rather than being caused by a transitive agent; if an agent is mentioned, it is typically done with a separate phrase (for example, “rupesi tulipaloon syttyä” or similar contextual clauses). The word is commonly used for natural disasters, accidents, and conflicts affecting buildings, ecosystems, or objects, as well as metaphorically to describe the ruin of systems, hopes, or civilizations.

Related terms include tuho, the noun for destruction or ruin, and tuhoutuminen, the process of being destroyed. Tuhoutuu and its related forms are standard in Finnish descriptions of damage, loss, or irreversible change.