tulee tehdä

The tulee tehdä construction is a hallmark of virkakieli (officialese/administrative language). It is used to frame obligations as objective facts or institutional standards. Because the subject is often omitted, it frequently translates to an English passive (e.g., 'must be done' or 'is to be done').

1. Sentence Structure:

• Subject: The person or entity with the duty is in the genitive case (e.g., opiskelijan). In administrative language, the subject is often omitted to create an impersonal instruction (e.g., Lomake tulee täyttää).
• The Verb 'Tulla': The verb does not agree with the actor: its present form is 3rd-person singular tulee. In negative sentences, the negative verb is used (ei tule täyttää), which expresses a negative obligation ('must not be done'), not a lack of obligation ('does not have to be done'). In the past tense, tuli is used (e.g., Lomake tuli täyttää - The form had to be filled out). The conditional mood tulisi (e.g., Lomake tulisi täyttää) is also extremely common in administrative language to soften an obligation into a strong recommendation.
• The Action: The main action is in the A-infinitive.
• The Object: In affirmative sentences, a singular total object appears in the nominative form (e.g., Hakemus tulee jättää), while plural total objects appear in the nominative plural ending in -t (e.g., Lomakkeet tulee täyttää). Personal pronouns stay in the accusative (e.g., hänet), and the interrogative pronoun kuka also takes the accusative form kenet (e.g., Kenet tulee valita?). If the verb inherently governs the partitive case (e.g., auttaa) or if the object is an indefinite mass noun (e.g., vettä), the object must remain in the partitive case even in affirmative sentences (e.g., Asiakasta tulee auttaa, Vettä tulee juoda).

2. Negation and the Partitive:
When the construction is negated, the object rules change. The object must be in the partitive case (e.g., Lomaketta ei tule täyttää).

3. Nuance and Register:
While it is a hallmark of official language, it is also widely used in everyday written instructions, school assignments, manuals, and public notices. In spoken Finnish, other obligation structures are preferred. Using tulee tehdä in casual conversation sounds overly formal.

4. Distinction from Future Tense:
While the verb tulla can hint at the future when combined with the mA-infinitive (like tulla tekemään), the tulee + A-infinitive construction is strictly about obligation, not future tense.