Vertaillaan

Vertaillaan is the present passive form of the Finnish verb vertailla, meaning to compare. It denotes that a comparison is taking place without specifying the agent, and it is commonly used to present general statements or methodological steps in neutral, impersonal language. The form is created by adding the passive suffix -aan or -ään to the verb stem vertaill-, in accordance with vowel harmony, which yields vertaillaan. The corresponding active forms are vertailee (singular) and vertailevat (plural).

In usage, vertaillaan is frequent in academic, scientific, and descriptive writing when discussing processes, results, or analyses without naming who performs the action. It supports an objective tone and can be combined with nouns in various cases to specify what is being compared. The object of the comparison is typically expressed in partitive case, following Finnish grammar rules.

Examples:

- Tutkimuksessa vertaillaan kolmea erilaista analyysimenetelmää.

- Näitä lukuja vertaillaan taulukossa 2.

- Tekstien sisällöt vertaillaan toisiinsa aiemman tutkimuksen valossa.

Notes:

The English equivalents depend on context and may be rendered as "is/are compared" or, in more agentive contexts, as "we compare." Vertaillaan is a neutral, impersonal construction suitable for describing methodological steps, data analysis, or literature reviews without attributing actions to a specific subject.