Jäävänsä

Jäävänsä is a non-finite verb form in Finnish derived from the verb jäädä, meaning to stay or to remain. It is built from the present active participle stem jäävä (staying) plus the third-person possessive suffix -nsä, producing jäävänsä. The form literally means “one’s staying” or “his/her staying,” and the possessive suffix indicates the bearer of the staying in the context of the clause.

Usage and function

Jäävänsä is most commonly used in subordinate clauses to describe a staying by the subject of the main clause, often after verbs of saying, thinking, or intending. For example: Hän kertoi jäävänsä kahdeksi viikoksi, meaning “He said that he would stay for two weeks.” In such sentences, jäävänsä conveys the idea of a planned or anticipated staying by the same subject as the main clause. It can appear in other contexts with the same non-finite sense, where the subject is understood from context.

Relation to related forms

Jäävänsä contrasts with jääminen, the noun form jääminen (staying, remaining), which is used as a regular noun. It also differs from jäävä, the attributive present participle used to describe a staying as an adjective. Jäävänsä is part of a broader pattern in Finnish where non-finite forms of verbs carry possessive suffixes to mark the agent or bearer in subordinate clauses.

See also

Jäädä, Jääminen, Finnish grammar, Non-finite verb forms.