Täytyä

Täytyä is a Finnish verb that functions as an auxiliary to express necessity or obligation. In English it corresponds to must or have to. In present tense it is used impersonally; the subject is given by a possessive pronoun such as minun, sinun, hän, meidän, or teidän: Minun täytyy mennä nyt. The form täytyy can also express a general necessity without an explicit subject: Siellä täytyy olla kiire.

Conjugation and forms include: present täytyy; past täytyi; conditional täytyisi; and a common speculative form täytynee, used to indicate supposition. The negative is typically expressed with ei tarvitse rather than by negating täytyä directly, as in Minun ei tarvitse mennä (I do not have to go).

Uses and nuance: Täytyä expresses obligation or necessity arising from circumstances, rules, or external factors, rather than personal recommendation. It often conveys stronger necessity than the synonym pitäisi, which denotes should or ought to. It can also express deduction or assumption: Se täytyy olla totta (That must be true; it probably is true). The construction is flexible with most verbs: Meidän täytyy lähteä aikaisin (We have to leave early).

Grammatical note: Täytyä behaves like a modal-like verb. The present form täytyy is used with all subjects, typically preceded by a possessive pronoun to indicate the speaker or addressee. In everyday speech the phrases Minun täytyy, Sinun täytyy, Meidän täytyy are common, and past forms such as Minun täytyi appear in corresponding past contexts.