Selventävän

Selventävän is the genitive singular form of the Finnish present active participle selventävä, which comes from the verb selventää meaning “to clarify” or “to explain.” The participle functions as an adjective and is used to describe something that provides clarification or elucidation. In writing, selventävä indicates that content or a statement is intended to make information easier to understand.

As an attributive participle, selventävä directly modifies a noun: for example, selventävä esitys means a clarifying presentation, and selventävä kuva means a clarifying image. The form selventävän appears when the participle is in the genitive singular, as in selventävän selityksen (the clarifying explanation). Finnish participles decline like adjectives and agree with the noun they describe in number and case.

In practice, selventävä is common in academic, instructional, and journalistic contexts where additional explanation is required. It helps specify the purpose of content, such as diagrams, passages, or explanations that are intended to illuminate a topic.

See also: Finnish grammar, present active participles, selventää (to clarify).