Tunnustatava

Tunnustatava is not a standard Finnish word. It is commonly understood as a misspelling or a nonstandard/dialectal variant of tunnustettava, which is the present passive participle of the verb tunnustaa (to confess, to admit). In standard Finnish, tunnustettava is used to describe something that is to be confessed or that must be confessed, depending on context.

Etymology and form: The intended form comes from tunnustaa plus the participial suffix -ttava, which yields a word meaning “to be confessed” or “that is to be confessed.” The usual spelling in contemporary Finnish is tunnustettava, with the double consonant arising from the phonological assimilation in the -ttava suffix. The form tunnustatava would be nonstandard.

Usage: In formal or legal-language contexts, tunnustettava can describe obligations or expectations to acknowledge something. For example, it may appear in literary or rhetorical phrases referring to a truth or fact that must be acknowledged. In everyday Finnish, however, speakers are more likely to use tunnustettava in its proper form or prefer related nouns such as tunnustus (confession/acknowledgment) or the verb tunnustaa itself.

Variant forms: If encountered as tunnustatava in text, it is generally advisable to treat it as a nonstandard variant and consider tunnustettava as the correct spelling. Checking the source or consulting Finnish grammar references can help determine whether the form is intentional stylistic usage or an orthographic error.

See also: tunnustaa, tunnustus, tunnustaminen, -ttava/-tava participial suffix.