unohtumaan

Unohtumaan is a Finnish non-finite form of the verb unohtua, meaning to be forgotten or to slip from memory. It is used to express that something ends up forgotten or tends to be forgotten, rather than being forgotten as a deliberate action. The form often conveys a process or outcome rather than a single act.

In practice, unohtumaan appears in constructions with verbs of motion or other auxiliary verbs to indicate a developing result. For example, in the common expression Se meni unohtumaan, which translates to It slipped my mind. Another example is Jos et kirjoita asiat ylös, ne voivat unohtua, meaning If you don’t write things down, they may be forgotten. The usage emphasizes forgetting as a potential or eventual outcome rather than a purposeful act of forgetting.

Related forms include the noun unohtuminen (forgetting) and the adjective unohtumaton (unforgettable). Unohtua is intransitive and differs from the transitive unohtaa (to forget something) and from related forms that explicitly denote forgetting as an action performed by someone.

Usage notes: Unohtumaan is common in everyday spoken Finnish and in less formal writing. It tends to describe memory lapses or neglected details as natural outcomes, rather than intentional forgetting. See also: unohtaa, unohtua, unohtuminen.