häirittyä

Häirittyä is a Finnish non-finite verb form derived from the verb häiritä, meaning to disturb or to bother. It denotes a passive experience of disturbance and is used in contexts where a non-finite, passive sense is preferred. In practice, häirittyä is most often encountered in written language, grammars, or formal styles rather than in everyday spoken Finnish.

Linguistic description and function:

Häirittyä is related to the passive participle häiritty (disturbed) but occupies a distinct non-finite form. It can be described as a passive infinitive-like or non-finite clause form that allows the action to be framed without specifying a personal subject. Because it is non-finite, it does not carry a finite tense by itself and typically relies on other verbs or sentence structure to indicate time or modality.

Usage and register:

The form häirittyä is relatively rare in ordinary conversation. It appears primarily in linguistic descriptions, dictionaries, and some literary or historical texts. In modern, everyday Finnish, speakers are more likely to express the idea of disturbance with finite passive constructions (such as häiritty) or with other periphrastic expressions, depending on the exact nuance required.

Relation to other forms:

Häirittyä sits within the family of non-finite and passive forms derived from häiritä. The standard active form is häiritä (to disturb), while the participle häiritty conveys a acted-upon state (disturbed). The non-finite häirittyä offers an alternative grammatical option for describing disturbing actions in a non-finite, passive sense.

See also:

Häiritä; Häiritty; Finnish grammar; Non-finite verb forms in Finnish; Passive voice in Finnish.