Tukehtui

Tukehtui is the third-person singular past tense of the Finnish verb tukehtua, meaning to suffocate or choke. It describes an event in which breathing becomes impossible due to obstruction, lack of air, or inhalation of harmful substances such as smoke. The term is used for humans and animals and appears in medical, safety, news, and narrative contexts to refer to death or near-death experiences caused by suffocation.

In Finnish, tukehtua is an intransitive verb, and tukehtui marks a completed past action. Related forms include tukehtuu (present tense: he/she suffocates), tukehtuivat (past tense for they suffocated), and the past participle tukehtunut (having suffocated). The noun form is tukehtuminen (suffocation). These forms are used to describe occurrences in various subjects and grammatically align with Finnish verb conjugation patterns.

Common contexts involve situations such as fires, smoke inhalation, choking on food, or other impediments to air intake. Metaphorical uses exist in literature and speech to convey intense pressure or overwhelming circumstances, though the primary usage remains literal.

Etymology: tukehtua is a native Finnish verb with a long-standing presence in the language. It does not have a widely cited external borrowing as its root, and tukehtui derives from the standard verb conjugation paradigm.

See also: tukehtua, tukehtuminen, tukehtunut.