Pukemaan

Pukemaan is the third infinitive form of the Finnish verb pukea, and it denotes the act of dressing or clothing someone or something. The basic verb pukea means to dress or clothe, and pukemaan is the non-finite form used to express the purpose or continuation of the action in a sentence.

Usage and examples: Pukemaan is used in contexts that describe going to perform the act of dressing, often in combination with verbs of motion or intention. Examples include sentences like Mennen pukemaan lapsen takin (I am going to dress the child in a coat) or Hän lähti pukemaan itsensä (he went to dress himself). The form can signal purpose, sequence, or a planned action within a larger clause. In practice, pukemaan appears more in formal, literary, or instructional language than in casual speech.

Grammatical notes: Pukemaan is a transitive form; the action targets a person or animal who is being dressed. Because it is a non-finite form, it does not carry tense by itself and relies on surrounding verbs to establish time. In everyday Finnish, speakers more commonly use related constructions such as pukemaan or, for dressing oneself, the reflexive or verb pairs like pukeutua or pukeutumaan.

See also: pukea, pukeutua, pukeutuminen, pukeminen, päälleen (on someone’s clothes).