ajanmyötä

Ajanmyötä is a Finnish adverbial expression meaning the passage of time, or as time goes by. It signals gradual change rather than sudden events and is commonly used to describe how something develops or evolves over a period.

The term is formed from ajan (time) and myötä (with/along). In contemporary Finnish, ajanmyötä is typically written as one word, although the two-word form ajan myötä appears in some texts for emphasis or stylistic reasons. It functions as an adverbial phrase and does not stand as a separate noun.

Ajanmyötä is widely used in history, sociology, literature and journalism to describe gradual shifts in phenomena such as culture, technology, environment or social norms. It often accompanies verbs like muuttua (to change), kehittyä (to develop), or edetä (to advance), underscoring a sense of continuity over a longer time span.

Example: Ajanmyötä kaupungin rakennuskanta alkoi muuttua. (Over time, the city’s building stock began to change.)

A related nuance is that ajanmyötä implies cumulative progression rather than isolated events. It is a common and neutral phrasing for discussing long-term trends in Finnish discourse.