Epäonnistuessaan

Epäonnistuessaan is a Finnish adverbial participle form of the verb epäonnistua, meaning “to fail.” It is used to introduce a subordinate clause that specifies the time, condition, or circumstance under which the action of the main clause occurs. In English it can be rendered as “when [one] fails” or “in the event of [one] failing.” The form typically relates to a third-person subject and is found mainly in written or formal Finnish.

Grammatical notes: Epäonnistuessaan is part of the family of adverbial participles formed with the suffixes -essaan/-essä and related variants. It functions to link clauses and to express conditional or temporal nuance without using a subordinate conjunction. The exact subject of the participial clause is usually the same as the subject of the main clause, though the construction can also be generalized in impersonal or passive contexts.

Usage and nuance: This participial form conveys a more literary or formal tone than everyday speech. It emphasizes the circumstance of failure as it relates to the main action, rather than expressing a simple factual sequence. In contemporary prose, speakers may prefer explicit conditional phrases like “jos hän epäonnistuu” to achieve a similar meaning.

Example: Hän menetti työnsä epäonnistuessaan. (He lost his job in the event of his failure.)

Related terms: epäonnistuminen (failure), epäonnistua (to fail), and other participial forms such as epäonnistuttuaan (having failed) or epäonnistuneessaan (in his failure).