preesenspassiiivissa

Preesenspassiiivissa is the present passive voice form described in Finnish grammar as the present tense passive. It is used to indicate that a present action is taking place, while the actor performing the action is unknown, unimportant, or generalized. The form is finite and inflects for mood and tense, but not for person or number in standard usage.

In Finnish, the present passive is formed by attaching a passive suffix to the verb stem; the exact suffix varies with vowel harmony and the verb class. The resulting form generally looks the same for singular and plural subjects, and for all persons. Some verbs show stem changes due to consonant gradation or vowel alternation, but the passive ending remains fixed. The construction does not specify an agent, aligning with impersonal or generalized statements.

It is common in descriptive writing, instructions, headlines, and impersonal statements. It allows speakers to present statements about ongoing processes without naming who is responsible. For example, Kirjoitetaan uusi kirja means “A new book is being written,” and Kasvit kastellaan joka päivä means “The plants are watered every day.” Such usages are typical in news, manuals, and formal notices where agent identification is unnecessary or undesirable.

Although the term preesenspassiiivissa is specific to Finnish descriptions, many languages have present passive forms with distinct morphology or periphrastic constructions. In English, the present passive uses to be plus the past participle, while Finnish relies on a dedicated finite passive form to express the same broad idea.