Herätessäni

Herätessäni is a Finnish adverbial participle form of the verb herätä, meaning “to wake up.” It combines the present active participle stem -ess- with the first-person possessive suffix -ni, producing the non-finite clause 'herätessäni' that translates roughly as “as I woke up” or “upon waking.” The construction introduces a time clause describing something that occurs at the moment of waking and is typically followed by a main clause.

Usage and grammar: Because it bears the possessive suffix -ni, the subject of the participle is the speaker (I). This form signals simultaneity with the waking moment. In practice, it can appear at the beginning of a sentence or as a dependent clause separated by a comma: “Herätessäni kuulin…” or “Herätessäni, huomasin…”. The form has related variants for other subjects: “Herätessäsi” (as you wake up), “Herätessään” (as he/she wakes up), etc.

Examples:

- Herätessäni kuulin linnunlaulun. (As I woke up, I heard birdsong.)

- Herätessäni keitin kahvin. (As I woke up, I brewed coffee.)

- Herätessäni huomasin, että ulkona paistoi auringonpaiste. (As I woke up, I noticed the sunlight outside.)

The phrase is common in narrative writing, diaries, and other contexts where the writer describes events around the moment of waking.