passiivisissa

Passiivisissa is a term used in Finnish linguistics and language teaching to refer to the passive voice in Finnish grammar, and it is also the plural inessive form of the adjective passiivinen (passive). In everyday usage the phrase passiivisissa often appears in examples such as passiivisissa lauseissa, meaning “in passive sentences.” The form illustrates how Finnish marks voice and how the agent of an action can be left unnamed.

In the Finnish passive, the action is described without specifying who performs it. The subject of the sentence is typically not the agent but the patient or theme of the action. The passive allows emphasis on the action itself or its result rather than on who performs it. Finnish uses a system of verb forms to express tense and mood without a separate subject pronoun, and passiivisissa constructions can occur across various tenses.

Formation and variation: Finnish passive forms arise through distinctive verb endings and morphological changes that depend on verb class and tense. There are several common patterns for present and past actions, and some verbs have irregular or less productive passive variants. The passive can appear with different agents introduced by explicit phrases if needed, but many passiivisissa sentences omit the agent entirely.

Usage and style: The passive is frequent in formal writing, scientific texts, and news reporting, because it foregrounds actions and results over agents. However, heavy reliance on passiivisissa constructions can lead to less direct or harder-to-read text, so careful balance with active voice is often recommended in teaching and contemporary prose.

See also: Finnish grammar, passive voice, Finnish verbs.