Kirjoittama

Kirjoittama is a Finnish past participle form derived from the verb kirjoittaa (to write). It functions as an adjective that precedes a noun to indicate that the noun has been written, typically by a specific author or source. In practice it conveys authorship or provenance, and is commonly translated into English as “written by” or “author-written.” For example, Juha kirjoittama kirja means “the book written by Juha,” and presidentin kirjoittama muistio means “a memo written by the president.” The construction is widely used in neutral and literary contexts to compress a relative clause into a simple modifier.

Morphology and usage: kirjoittama is an attributive participle and inflects like an ordinary Finnish adjective. It agrees with the noun it modifies in case and number, for example: kirjoittama kirja (nominative singular), kirjoittaman kirjan (genitive singular), kirjoittamaa kirjaa (partitive singular). In plural forms, it follows the same principle, e.g., kirjoittamat kirjat (nominative plural). Since it signals authorship, the agent can be implied or explicit depending on context; sometimes the author is named directly in the surrounding sentence rather than inside the phrase itself.

Relation to other forms: kirjoittama contrasts with kirjoitettu, which is the ordinary passive past participle meaning “written” without emphasis on the author. The related noun kirjoittaminen denotes the act of writing, while kirjoittaja refers to a writer or author.

See also: kirjoitettu, kirjoittaja, kirjoittaminen.