Selventäviä

Selventäviä is an inflected Finnish adjective form of selventävä, which means clarifying, explanatory, or elucidating. The word is used to describe content, statements, or sections that aim to increase understanding by making meanings more explicit. It is derived from the verb selventää, “to clarify or explain.”

The form selventäviä is the plural partitive inflection, used before a plural noun in partitive or in other contexts where partitive is required. For example, selventäviä esimerkkejä means “clarifying examples,” selventäviä huomautuksia means “clarifying notes,” and selventäviä tekstejä can refer to clarifying texts. In practice, selventäviä passages or sentences are employed in educational, technical, or instructional writing to illuminate a point, define terms, or resolve ambiguities without introducing new substantive claims.

In discourse, selventäviä elements are typically contrasted with more argumentative or evidentiary material; their primary function is to aid comprehension rather than to advance argument. The nuance is thus closer to “explanatory” or “illuminating” rather than “persuasive.”

See also: selventävä (singular), selittävä, määritelmä, esimerkki. While related terms cover broader explanation or description, selventäviä specifically signals clarifying content within plural contexts.