Viitattiin

Viitattiin is a Finnish verb form: the passive past tense of viitata, meaning to refer to, mention, or cite. The form denotes that something was cited or referred to in another text or discussion, without specifying who did the referring. It is common in formal writing, such as academic articles, reports, and journalism, where the acts of citing or referencing are described rather than who performed them.

In usage, viitattiin describes past reference to sources, evidence, or statements. It often appears in sentences that summarize how a text relied on previous work or how a statement referred to prior material. Because it is a passive form, the agent (the person or entity that referred to something) is typically not stated; if it is mentioned, it is usually introduced in a separate clause or with an agentive phrase.

Grammatically, viitattiin is formed from the verb stem viita- with the standard passive past suffix -ttiin. The mood is indicative, and the voice is passive, which makes it suitable for reporting sources and references in an objective, neutral tone. The active counterpart is viittasi, meaning “he/she/it referred to” or “cited.”

Related terms include viittaus (citation or reference), viitteellinen (referential), and viitta (sign or reference point in older or broader uses). The concept is central to how Finnish scholarly and formal texts acknowledge prior work and situate new statements within a network of sources.