kuulustellaan

Kuulustellaan is a Finnish verb form meaning “is being interrogated” or “are being interrogated.” It is the present passive form of kuulustella, which means “to interrogate” or “to question.” In Finnish, the passive voice often places the focus on the action and its recipient rather than on who performs it, so kuulustellaan identifies the person or group under interrogation without naming the interrogator. The present passive is formed from the verb stem kuulustell- plus the passive suffix, producing kuulustellaan.

Usage and examples

Kuulustellaan is commonly used in legal, police, and journalistic contexts to describe ongoing questioning by authorities or other interrogators. The subject is the person or group under interrogation, not the one performing it. Examples:

- Hänet kuulustellaan poliisiasemalla. (He/She is being interrogated at the police station.)

- Epäiltyä kuulustellaan koko yön. (The suspect is being interrogated all night.)

- Todistaja kuulustellaan aamulla. (The witness is being questioned in the morning.)

Notes

The form kuulustellaan denotes present tense in the passive mood; it does not specify number, since Finnish passive forms cover both singular and plural subjects. The construction is common in news reporting and formal contexts and can be paired with various agents implied by context rather than overtly stated. The active counterpart is kuulustella (to interrogate), with forms such as hänet kuulustelee for “he/she interrogates him/her.”

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