Vahendades

Vahendades is the Estonian gerundial participle formed from the verb vahendada. In Estonian grammar, vahendades functions as an adverbial participle that expresses instrumentality: it conveys the means by which the action of the main clause is carried out, roughly translating to “by using” or “through the use of” in English.

Form and syntax: The form ends with the suffix -des and does not agree with any subject. It is non-finite and can introduce a subordinate participial clause linked to the main clause. The subject of the participial clause is typically the same as the subject of the main verb, though the construction can also be used more generally to describe means without specifying a subject.

Usage: vahendades occurs primarily in formal, technical, or legal language, as well as in academic prose. It is used to enumerate methods, tools, or resources applied to achieve an outcome, and it can be placed at the beginning or inside a sentence to modify the main verb.

Notes: The term is primarily a grammatical tool rather than a standalone lexical item with a single fixed sense; its precise meaning depends on the context and the semantic range of the underlying verb vahendada (which includes notions of providing with tools or means, or supplying resources).

See also: Estonian grammar, adverbial participles, non-finite clauses, gerunds.