asetetaan

Asetetaan is the present passive form of the Finnish verb asettaa, meaning to place, set, or position something. It is used when the actor performing the action is unknown or unimportant, making the action general or impersonal. In everyday and formal language, asetetaan often describes how objects or values are put in a particular place or state.

Grammatically, the Finnish passive voice is formed by adding the suffix -taan/-tään to the verb stem, depending on vowel harmony. For asettaa, the present passive becomes asetetaan. The subject of a passive clause is the thing being acted upon, while the agent is either omitted or introduced with a agentive expression such as by someone or by something. The object of the active verb often appears in the partitive case in passive sentences.

Common uses include describing procedures, rules, or arrangements where who performs the action is irrelevant. It is frequently found in instructions, descriptions of processes, or legal and administrative language. For example, “Kirjat asetetaan pöydälle” means “The books are placed on the table,” and “Uudet säännöt asetetaan voimaan” means “The new rules are put into effect.”

Related terms include the active variant asettaa (to place or set), as well as nominal forms such as asetus (regulation, decree) and asetettu (placed, set - past passive participle). Asetetaan thus functions as a versatile tool in Finnish for describing placement or establishment without specifying the agent.