katkaistaan

Katkaistaan is a present passive form of the Finnish verb katkaista, meaning to cut off, disconnect, or interrupt. In Finnish, the passive voice does not specify the agent, so katkaistaan translates roughly as “it is cut off” or “one cuts off.” The form is produced by adding the passive suffix -aan/-ään to the verb stem, with vowel harmony, yielding katkaistaan.

Usage is common in notices, announcements, and news reporting where an interruption or disconnection is described without naming who performs the action. It often relates to utilities, communications, or infrastructure, as in situations where a service is temporarily unavailable or a connection is deliberately severed for maintenance or safety. For example: “Vesi katkaistaan huollon ajaksi.” (The water supply will be shut off for maintenance.) “Lennot katkaistaan lumimyrskän vuoksi.” (Flights are canceled due to a snowstorm.) The phrase can also describe the physical severing of a line or connection, such as a pipe or cable, when the agent is not specified.

Grammatical notes: katkaistaan is the present passive, 3rd person singular/plural generic form. Other related forms include katkaistiin (past passive) and katkaisettaisiin (conditional passive). The agent, such as a utility company or maintenance crew, is often understood from context or stated with additional information.

In summary, katkaistaan is a common Finnish impersonal construction for stating that something is being cut off or interrupted, typically used in practical, public-facing contexts.