The Finnish passive says that some unspecified people do something; it has one single form for every person, ending in -taan/-tään in the present (puhua - puhutaan). Unlike English, it deliberately does not tell you who the doer is.
Examples
- Suomessa puhutaan suomea ja ruotsia.
- In Finland, Finnish and Swedish are spoken.
- Uutta lakia vastustetaan voimakkaasti.
- The new law is strongly opposed.
- Sanotaan, että eriarvoisuus kasvaa jatkuvasti.
- It is said that inequality keeps growing.
- Köyhyydestä keskusteltiin pitkään.
- Poverty was discussed at length.
The mistake to avoid
Bolting an agent onto the passive ('puhutaan päättäjien toimesta') - if you need to name the doer, switch to an active sentence.
Where this fits in
Yhteiskunta ja mielipiteet, Finnish B2: Discuss social issues, debate for and against, and talk about media.