Tarvettaessa

Tarvettaessa is a Finnish adverbial participle form that expresses a conditional or situational clause, roughly translating to “in case of need” or “if there is a need.” It is used in formal or technical language to indicate that some action may be taken only when a need arises.

Formation and function: Tarvettaessa is built from the noun tarve (need) in the partitive form tarvetta, combined with the adverbial suffix -essa to yield tarvettaessa. In meaning, it parallels other -ttaessa forms that denote “when” or “in the event of.” The construction introduces a subordinate clause that sets a condition for the following statement, and it can appear at the beginning or within a sentence.

Usage and register: Tarvettaessa appears most often in official, procedural, or technical writing, such as manuals, guidelines, and policy documents. It signals preparedness or contingency: actions described after tarvettaessa depend on the existence of a need. A closely related, more common expression is tarvittaessa, which conveys a similar sense of “if necessary,” but tarvettaessa remains a valid form in formal contexts.

Example sentences:

- Tarvettaessa tiedot voidaan tulostaa.

- Tarvettaessa järjestelmä voidaan siirtää offline-tilaan.

- Tarvettaessa voidaan lisätä varmuuskopioita.

- Tarvettaessa asetukset voidaan palauttaa oletustilaan.

See also: tarve, tarvita, tarvittaessa. Tarvettaessa is one of several Finnish forms that express conditional or contingency, and its use reflects the style and tone typical of formal Finnish documentation.