tapahtuu

Tapahtuu is a Finnish verb meaning to happen or to take place. It describes events, processes, or changes as they occur and is used to talk about what is happening rather than what should happen. The base infinitive is tapahtua; the present indicative form is tapahtuu, which corresponds to “it happens” or “it takes place.” The simple past form is tapahtui, and the perfect form is on tapahtunut.

In usage, tapahtuu is intransitive and does not take a direct object. It commonly appears with time- or place-expressions and is frequent in both everyday speech and journalism. It can introduce or report events that unfold, for example: Mitä täällä tapahtuu? or Mikä tässä oikein tapahtuu? It is also used in sentences describing scheduled or ongoing events, such as Se tapahtuu tänä iltana or Tapahtuma alkaa kello kahdeksan.

Related words include tapahtuma, a noun meaning a specific event or occurrence, and tapahtunut, the past participle used in perfect constructions, as in Se on tapahtunut. The verb forms a core part of Finnish discourse for describing happenings, whether in personal conversation, news reporting, or narrative writing.