Määrättäessä

Määrättäessä is a Finnish grammatical form. It is the passive present participle of the verb "määrätä", which means "to order," "to appoint," "to decree," or "to determine." When used in the essive case, as indicated by the "-ttä" ending, it translates to "when being ordered," "when appointed," "when decreed," or "when determined." This form functions adverbially, describing the circumstances under which an action occurs. For example, "Määrättäessä rajat, oli selvä, että kiista jatkuisi" could be translated as "When the borders were being determined, it was clear that the dispute would continue." The passive nature of the participle implies that the subject of the main clause is not the one performing the action of ordering or determining, but rather is affected by it. The "-essä" ending signifies a temporal relationship, indicating that the action described by "määrättäessä" is happening concurrently with or just prior to the action in the main clause. It is a common construction in formal Finnish, particularly in legal or administrative contexts, where clarity regarding the conditions under which decisions are made or actions are taken is important.