Auttaessaan

auttaessaan is a Finnish verb form derived from the verb auttaa (to help). It belongs to the set of -essa/-essä (imperfective) adverbial participles used to form temporal subordinate clauses and can be translated as "when (he/she/they) help(s)" or "while helping." The form auttaessaan specifically includes a third-person possessive/personal ending and therefore refers to the subject of the main clause in the third person; in Finnish the third-person singular and plural shapes are identical (auttaessaan).

Formation and grammar: auttaa is a type I verb with stem auta-. The adverbial participle is built with the -essa/-essä base plus personal endings: auttaessani (I), auttaessasi (you), auttaessaan (he/she/they), auttaessamme (we), auttaessanne (you pl.), auttaessaan (they). A corresponding non‑personal form auttaessa is used for general statements ("when one helps" / "when helping").

Usage: auttaessaan introduces temporal or circumstantial information about the subject: Hän auttaessaan unohti avaimensa (When he helped, he forgot his keys). Because the third-person form does not distinguish number, context determines whether it refers to a singular or plural subject. The form commonly appears in written and spoken Finnish to connect actions without using a finite subordinate clause.

Related forms: auttaen (present participle, "by helping"), auttanut (past participle), and finite present/past forms of auttaa are used for other functions and tenses.