Karkaamalla

Karkaamalla is a Finnish verbal noun form, a gerund derived from the verb karkata meaning “to escape.” It expresses the manner or means by which an action is performed and is often translated into English as “by escaping.” In Finnish grammar, karkaamalla functions as an adverbial or instrumental modifier, linking a main clause to the action described by the gerund.

Morphologically, karkaamalla is formed with the -malla/-mällä gerund suffix and is one of several similar forms the language uses to nominalize verbs. The gerund does not carry its own finite tense; instead, it conveys information about how something is done. The subject of the gerund can be explicit or understood from context, and the agent can be the same as or different from the subject of the main clause.

Usage wise, karkaamalla is common in narrative and formal prose where the author wants to emphasize the method or means of an action. It can introduce subordinate information about cause, method, or circumstance, and it often appears in clauses that describe an action in progress or a hypothetical scenario. The form is distinct from the spatial or directional adverbial expression karkauteen or karkaamalla’s counterpart forms, which describe movement or motion rather than the instrumental sense of “by escaping.”

Translations into English typically render karkaamalla as “by escaping” or “through escaping.” In Finnish, it is valued for its concise way of indicating a specific means of action without forming a full finite clause.