Karkaavat

Karkaavat is a Finnish word formed from the verb karata, meaning to escape or flee. It functions primarily as the present active participle of karata and, when used before a plural noun, describes entities that are escaping. In this use, karkaavat means “escaping” or “fleeing,” and it agrees with the noun in number and case, for example karkaavat vangit = the escaping prisoners.

Morphology and usage

The present active participle in Finnish is created with the suffix -va/-vä. For karata, the participle stem yields karkaava, and when used with a plural noun the form becomes karkaavat, functioning as an adjective. This construction is common in reporting and descriptive prose to convey ongoing action. It can appear in various syntactic positions, including modifying nouns (karkaavat vangit) or within a noun phrase as a compound descriptive element.

Examples

- Karkaavat vangit saatiin kiinni yön aikana. (The escaping prisoners were captured overnight.)

- Taistelun aikana useat henkilöt joutuivat karkaaviin tilanteisiin. (During the battle, several people found themselves in escaping situations.)

Related forms

Karkaava is the base present active participle form meaning “escaping,” with karkaavat as the plural nominative. The verb on its own is karata, and the participle form is one of several inflected derivatives used to express aspect and ongoing action in Finnish.

See also

Finnish present active participles, karata (to escape), paeta (to flee).