Lakkaamalla

Lakkaamalla is the Finnish adverbial participle (gerund) form derived from the verb lakata, meaning to stop or cease. It expresses the means or manner by which an action is performed, roughly corresponding to the English phrase by stopping or by ceasing. As a non-finite form, it is used to connect actions and to indicate how something is accomplished.

The form is created by adding the suffix -malla (or -mmalla in some cases) to the verb stem. It functions to describe means, method, or cause in relation to the main clause. The subject of the gerund is typically the same as the subject of the main verb.

Examples illustrate its typical use. Hän paransi terveyttään lakkaamalla tupakasta. (He improved his health by stopping smoking.) Lakkaamalla alkoholin käytöstä hän nukkui paremmin. (By giving up alcohol, he slept better.) These constructions show how lakkaamalla expresses a means rather than a sequence of separate actions.

Lakkaamalla tends to appear more in written or formal Finnish and instructional contexts, where the means by which something occurs is being explained. In everyday speech, speakers may prefer alternative expressions such as explicit clauses or other participial forms, but lakkaamalla remains a correct and standard way to indicate cessation as a method.

See also: lakata, lakkaaminen, the -malla participle.