Puhuttavana

Puhuttavana is a Finnish grammatical term describing a specific non-finite form of the verb puhua (to speak). The form expresses that someone is the recipient of speech or that someone is to be spoken to or addressed. It belongs to the broader Finnish participle system and is most commonly discussed in descriptive grammar, dictionaries, and language-teaching materials rather than in everyday conversation.

Morphology and use: Puhuttavana is formed by combining the verb stem with a passive participle suffix, yielding a form that can function as an adjective phrase. It can occur in attributive position, as in puhuttavana oleva henkilö (the person being addressed), or in predicative or periphrastic constructions within a sentence. The construction signals the state or role of a noun as the recipient of speech.

Functions and nuance: The form typically appears in formal, academic, or linguistic contexts. It is useful for describing communicative situations or for explaining how speech acts are directed at particular participants. In everyday spoken Finnish, speakers usually opt for simpler structures or alternative expressions rather than using the -ttavana participial form.

Examples (illustrative): puhuttavana oleva henkilö represents “the person being addressed,” and Hätätilanteessa hänet on puhuttavana—“in an emergency, he is to be spoken to” or “he is the one to be spoken to” in a context of directing speech.

See also: Finnish grammar, participles, passive voice, addressing.