Menevällä

Menevällä is a Finnish grammatical form derived from the present active participle menevä of the verb mennä (to go). It is the adessive singular form and functions as an adjective or adverbial modifier, describing how something moves or progresses. As a participle, menevä carries the core meaning of mennä but is used with a noun in the adessive case to express manner or state, for example in phrases like "auto kulkee menevällä vauhdilla" (the car is moving at a brisk pace).

Morphology and usage: The base form menevä is the present active participle of mennä. By adding the adessive suffix -llä, the word becomes menevällä, which is then used to modify a noun in the adessive case, most commonly with a noun indicating a mode or measure of motion, such as vauhti (speed) or kehitys (progress). The resulting expressions convey that something is proceeding in a particular, dynamic manner.

Examples and nuance: "Tapahtumat etenevät menevällä vauhdilla" and "Auto kulkee menevällä vauhdilla" are typical usages, conveying movement or development that is proceeding with momentum. The form is frequent in descriptive prose and journalism to convey speed or progress without repeating verbs like mennä or kulkea. In everyday speech, speakers might prefer more direct phrases such as "nopeasti" or "kovaa vauhtia," but menevällä remains a standard grammatical construction in Finnish.

Relation to grammar: Menevä is a present participle; menevällä is its adessive form. Other case forms of the participle exist (e.g., menevää, menevällä), reflecting Finnish grammar's use of participles as adjectives. The construction demonstrates how participles can convey aspectual nuance and mode of action.

See also: Finnish grammar, present active participles, adessive case, Finnish morphology.

References: General Finnish grammar sources, such as Kotus (Institute for the Languages of Finland) and standard reference works on participles and case inflection.