Rewriting the Passive

While the passive voice is grammatically correct, its heavy use in formal contexts can create 'bureaucratic fog' (kapulakieli). Modern Finnish style guides recommend 'passive avoidance' to improve readability in formal writing.

Crucial Passive Constraints:

• The Human Agent Rule: The Finnish personal passive normally leaves a human actor unspecified. For a natural event, an intransitive verb often expresses the intended meaning more clearly, as in Puu kaatui tuulessa (the tree fell in the wind). Technical contexts can also attribute passive-described actions to devices, so the human interpretation is a strong default rather than an exceptionless ban.
• No Agent Allowed: Finnish has no direct grammatical equivalent of the ordinary English by-agent in this passive construction. A toimesta phrase does occur, especially in official prose, but an active sentence usually identifies the actor more directly.

Key Transformations:

• Verb Change: The passive verb is replaced by a personal active form. This requires identifying a subject (like 'me', 'yritys', or 'hallitus').
• Object Case Change: In a passive sentence, the total object is in the nominative-like accusative (no ending). In a standard indicative active sentence, a singular total object must take the genitive-accusative (-n). A second-person imperative has a nominative total noun object (Lue kirja!; Lukekaa kirja!), but a third-person imperative normally has -n (Hän lukekoon kirjan!). Note: Plural objects and personal pronouns do not change their form. If the object is partitive in the passive (e.g., 'Täällä juodaan kahvia'), it stays partitive in the active (e.g., 'Me juomme kahvia').
• Unpacking Nominalizations: Turn verbal nouns back into active verbs. Instead of 'käsittely suoritetaan' (processing is performed), use 'käsittelemme' (we process).
• The Zero Person: Instead of the passive, you can use the zero person (generic you) for a more natural tone. For example, changing the passive 'Täältä nähdään järvi' to the zero person 'Täältä näkee järven'. Notice that because the zero person is an active verb form, the singular total object changes back to the genitive-accusative: järvi becomes järven.

The Spoken Language Paradox: While you should avoid the passive in formal writing to sound clearer, remember that in spoken Finnish, the passive is the standard way to say 'we' (e.g., me mennään). Additionally, the passive is used to form suggestions or imperatives like 'Let's go!' (e.g., 'Mennään!'), reinforcing why learners shouldn't abandon the passive entirely. Avoiding the passive in casual speech will make you sound unnaturally stiff.

Object Limits
Negation normally makes the object partitive: Täältä ei nähdä järveä → Me emme näe järveä. An ongoing or otherwise unbounded affirmative action can also retain a partitive object. Necessive constructions have a nominative singular total noun object: Meidän täytyy tehdä päätös. Personal total-object pronouns keep their -t form, including with passives and necessities.