Ylläpidetä

Ylläpidetä is a Finnish verb form derived from ylläpitää, meaning to maintain or to keep up. In Finnish grammar resources it is described as a form associated with the passive mood, used in formal or technical language to convey that maintenance should occur or that something is to be maintained. The form is not common in everyday spoken Finnish, where more frequent constructions are the present passive (ylläpidetään) or the active imperative (ylläpidä).

Use and context

Ylläpidetä appears mainly in administrative, legal, or technical texts, where the aim is to express obligation or instruction without assigning a specific subject. In such contexts it can convey a sense of “maintenance should be performed” or “this thing is to be maintained,” aligning with the impersonal or impersonalized tone often found in official writing. Because it is relatively rare in everyday use, encountering it typically signals a formal writing style or a historical/grammatical discussion rather than contemporary speech.

Relation to related terms

The key related terms are ylläpitää (to maintain), ylläpito (maintenance), and the broader Finnish passive and imperative systems. While ylläpitää is common in general usage, and ylläpidetään is a standard present passive, ylläpidetä stands as a more specialized form associated with formal or archaic invocations of maintenance.

See also

Finnish grammar; passive voice in Finnish; imperative mood; ylläpito; ylläpitää.