Pyörähtäessä

Pyörähtäessä is a Finnish verb form derived from pyörähtää, meaning to whirl or spin. It functions as an adverbial non-finite form, used to express a moment of concurrent or transitional action. In English, it is commonly rendered as “when/while turning” or “upon turning,” depending on the context. The form highlights a brief movement that accompanies a main action in a sentence.

In Finnish grammar, pyörähtäessä is typically treated as an adverbial participle that introduces a subordinate clause of time or circumstance. The main clause and the participle clause share the surrounding action, and the subject of the main clause is usually implied to be the same as the subject of the participle. The construction provides a compact way to describe a scene or motion without creating a separate finite clause.

Usage and style: the form is most often found in written Finnish, including literary prose and descriptive narration, where it can convey a cinematic or vivid moment. It is less common in everyday spoken Finnish, where more straightforward sentence structures are preferred. As a literary device, pyörähtäessä can contribute to rhythm and imagery by foregrounding movement at a specific moment.

Related forms: from the same verb, other non-finite or finite forms are available, such as the present tense pyörähtää (to whirl), the present active participle pyörähtävä (whirling), and the past participle pyörähtänyt (having whirled). These forms are used across different syntactic contexts to express aspect, time, and action in Finnish.