Nimittäen

Nimittäen is the present adverbial participle (converb) of the Finnish verb nimittää, which means to name or to appoint. As a converb, nimittäen introduces a subordinate participial clause that expresses the manner or means by which the action of the main clause is carried out. The form is invariable and does not reflect person or number; its subject is understood to be the same as the subject of the main clause.

In practice, nimittäen is most common in formal and written Finnish, especially in legal, governmental, or historical prose. It allows a concise construction that links the act of appointing or naming directly to the main action. In everyday spoken Finnish, speakers more often use explicit clauses or passive constructions instead of the converb form.

Related forms include nimittäminen (the act of appointing or nomination) and nimitys (designation or name). The past participle nimitetty (appointed) and other nominalizations derived from nimittää are also used in different syntactic contexts.

Example:

Hallitus nimittäen hänet uudeksi johtajaksi, teki päätöksen.

This sentence illustrates how nimittäen can attach to the main clause to indicate that the act of appointing occurred in connection with the decision.

Nimittäen should not be confused with noun-derived terms such as nimitys or with other adverbial formations; its primary function is to express “by naming/appointing” in a formal, concise manner within a single, coherent clause.