Kustutades

Kustutades is Estonian for the present adverbial participle of the verb kustutama, meaning to erase or delete. It denotes an action performed by the subject in relation to another action described in the main clause. In English, it is commonly translated as “while erasing,” “by erasing,” or “having erased.” The form is used to connect clauses in a non-finite way, enabling a concise, often formal or written, style. It belongs to the class of adverbial participles in Estonian, and it does not inflect for person.

Usage and function: Kustutades is typically found in written Estonian, including reports, narratives, and procedural texts, where two related actions are expressed in a single sentence without a conjunction. It can indicate simultaneity (erasing occurs at the same time as the main action) or a causal/sequential relation (erasing enables or precedes the main result). In sentences where the subject of kustutades differs from the main clause’s subject, the construction may require adjustment, but usually the subject is shared.

Formation and related forms: Kustutades is formed from the verb kustutama with the adverbial participle suffix -des. Related words include kustutamine (erasing, deletion), kustutaja (eraser/delete operator), and the imperative kustuta (delete).

Example: Kustutades vanad andmed, vabastas ta ruumi uutele failidele. This translates to “By deleting the old data, he freed space for new files.” Such usage is common in formal writing to show how an action contributes to an outcome.