Suorittavaa

Suorittavaa is the partitive singular form of the Finnish present active participle suorittava, derived from the verb suorittaa, meaning to perform or to carry out. As a participle, suorittava can function as an adjective describing ongoing or habitual action, and suorittavaa is the case form used when the described action is indefinite or part of a larger noun phrase.

Morphology and forms. The present active participle in Finnish is formed from the verb stem with the suffix -va (or -vä) to indicate ongoing action. The partitive singular ending -vaa attaches when the phrase requires a partitive object or indefinite reference. Other common forms include nominative singular suorittava, genitive suorittavan, and partitive plural suorittavia, depending on number and case. For example, suorittavaa työtä means “work that is being carried out,” while suorittavat työntekijät would be “the performing workers” in plural nominative.

Usage and meaning. Suorittavaa is used to describe someone or something that performs a task or engages in carrying out an activity, with nuance of ongoing or habitual action rather than a completed result. It frequently appears in noun phrases found in technical, administrative, or formal Finnish. The form is more common in written or specialized language; in everyday speech, the base form suorittava is more frequently heard in attributive position, with the appropriate case ending chosen for the noun it modifies.

Etymology and relation. The word comes from the verb suorittaa plus the participial suffix -va. It is related to other Finnish present active participles like rakentava (“building”) and kirjoittava (“writing”), which share a similar syntactic role as adjectives or non-finite verbs.

See also. Finnish grammar, present active participles, partitive case.