nähnyt

Nähnyt is the past active participle of the Finnish verb nähdä, meaning “to see.” It denotes a completed act of seeing and is used to express perfect aspect when combined with the auxiliary olla (to have). The form corresponds to “seen” or “having seen” in English.

Formation and use

The past active participle is formed from the verb stem with the suffix -nyt (for verbs ending in a long vowel or consonant before the -dä/-dä ending). For nähdä, the participle is näen- style root plus -nyt, yielding nähnyt. It is not a finite verb on its own; it appears in periphrastic constructions with the auxiliary olla. Examples: Olen nähnyt tämän elokuvan (I have seen this film), Olin nähnyt hänet aiemmin (I had seen him before). In relative clauses it is common: mies, jonka olen nähnyt (the man whom I have seen).

Relation to näyt, nähty

Nähnyt is contrasted with nä myndy forms such as näyt- and passive participles. The related passive past participle näytTY (often written nähty) expresses “has been seen” or “has been shown” and is used to form passive statements without specifying who did the seeing. For example: Elokuva on nähty (The film has been seen). The difference in voice is a key distinction: nänyt marks a subject‑driven, active seeing; nähty marks a passive reception of seeing.

Grammatical notes

Nähnyt, like other past active participles, robs the clause of finite tense by itself but integrates into perfect constructions and relative clauses. It does not inflect for person or number in its participial form; those features come from the auxiliary verb. In ordinary speech, nänyt is common in expressions of experience or reported events, while näyt/yhet forms appear in passive statements.