Osaamisessaan

Osaamisessaan is a Finnish grammatical form meaning “in his/her/its competence” or “in their competence.” It is built from the noun osaaminen (competence, skill) plus the inessive case suffix -ssa (or -ssä) and the third-person possessive suffix -nsa/-nsä, resulting in osaamisessaan. The form therefore simultaneously marks location inside someone’s competence and identifies the possessor.

Morphology and related forms: The base osaaminen takes the inessive -ssa to form osaamisessa (“in competence”). Adding the possessive suffix yields osaamisessaan, indicating “in his/her/its competence.” Finnish allows other possessors with the same construction, for example osaamisessani (“in my competence”) or osaamisessasi (“in your competence”). These fused forms reflect how possession and case are combined in Finnish to specify whose competence is being discussed.

Usage: Osaamisessaan is typically used in formal or analytical Finnish to discuss a person’s or organization’s skills, strengths, or limitations in a particular context. It foregrounds the subject’s own capabilities rather than general competence. It can appear in evaluative sentences, research texts, or policy discussions when verdicts or conclusions reference someone’s skill set.

Examples:

- Hänen osaamisessaan on puutteita. (There are deficiencies in his/her/its competence.)

- Tutkimus osoittaa, että hänen osaamisessaan on kehittämistarpeita. (The study shows that there is room for improvement in his/her competence.)

- Organisaation osaamisessaan on uusia kyvykkyyksiä havaittu. (New capabilities have been observed in the organization’s competence.)

See also: related forms such as osaamisessa, osaamisensa, and other person-specific forms illustrating how Finnish combines case endings with possessive suffixes to express “in X’s competence.”