Muutettavan

Muutettavan is a Finnish term used in grammar and terminology to denote the thing that is to be changed or moved. It functions as the genitive singular form of the participle-adjective muutettava, which means “to be changed” or “to be moved.” As a noun phrase, muutettavan refers to the object under modification in a process such as editing, planning, or maintenance.

Etymology and form: The word is built from the verb muuttaa (to change, to move) with the participle suffix -ttava, producing muutettava, meaning “to be changed.” In function as a noun, Finnish inflects the word for case and number; thus the genitive singular form is muutettavan, the nominative is muutettava, and the partitive is muutettavaa. This system allows the expression of possession or relation to the object awaiting modification, as in phrases like “muutettavan kohteen” (of the object to be changed).

Usage: Muutettavan is commonly used in administrative, technical, and procedural contexts to specify the object that requires modification. It appears in instructions, specifications, and descriptions where it is important to identify the item or text that will undergo changes. For example: “Muutettavan kohteen kuvaus on liitteessä,” meaning the description of the object to be changed is in the attachment; or “Muutettavan tekstin oikeinkirjoitus on tarkistettava,” referring to the spelling of the text to be changed.

Notes: The term is primarily a grammatical tool rather than a standalone everyday noun, and its precise meaning depends on the surrounding context and the noun it modifies. It is part of a broader Finnish system that uses participial adjectives as nouns to describe objects undergoing action.