täytytään

täytytään is a form of the Finnish verb täytyy, which expresses necessity or obligation. The word tá° is the third person plural passive form, meaning “they must” or “it must be”. In everyday speech, it is often used to refer to an unspecified subject or to express a general assumption about what is likely or required, such as “täytytään myöhässä” meaning “they must be late” or “it must be late”. It can also convey a conjecture when the speaker is not certain, e.g. “tanskalaiset ovat saattaneet joutua vahinkoon, täytytään, että he tulivat tuhoon.” This usage aligns with the passive construction in Finnish, where the subject is either omitted or replaced by an indefinite pronoun.

Grammatically, täytyy is derived from the verb tykö, a non-productive auxiliary used to form necessity. The passive suffix -tään adds a sense of unknown or general subject, akin to English “must have”. The resulting form is used in contexts where the speaker does not know or does not wish to specify who exactly must do or be. It often appears in narrative, reporting, or commentary regarding past events or general situations. The word is considered a standard part of Finnish vocabulary, taught in schools and common in literature.

In contrast to the more specific kolmiviis, which indicates knowledge from a direct source, täytyy-ʹtään expresses a belief or inference. Because it is a passive construction, it does not directly refer to an agent; rather, it reflects an inference about a situation. This makes it useful in dialogues that emphasize uncertainty or partial knowledge. Despite being structurally simple, täytyy‑tään carries nuance in tone: it can convey politeness when suggesting a guess (“täytytään se oli tapahtunut”) or, conversely, a stern warning (“täytytään lisätoiminta menettelyyn”).