Verbaalisesti

verbaalisesti is a Finnish adverb meaning “verbally” or “in speech”. It is derived from the root verbali, which is the Finnish form of the word verbal, itself borrowed from Latin verbalis. The Finnish adverbial suffix –sti is added to form standard adverbs, yielding verbaalisesti. The word functions to describe actions, behaviors, or information that are expressed orally rather than in writing. For example, “heväkään on hyvä olla verbaalisesti avoin ja rehellinen” translates to “it is always good to be verbally open and honest”.

In everyday usage, verbaalisesti distinguishes spoken communication from written communication. It can also be used in legal or academic contexts to specify the verbatim nature of a statement, as in “aika, jolloin asiasta käsiteltiin verbaalisesti” – “the time when the subject was discussed verbally”. The adverb can appear as part of longer constructions, such as “verbaalisesti ilmaistut tunteet” (verbally expressed emotions). There are no alternate Finnish forms that carry exactly the same meaning; the closest morphological variant is verbaalinen (adjective) which pertains to verbal characteristics. In translation to English, the most common rendering is “verbally” or “in speech”. The use of verbaalisesti emphasises the modality of communication rather than its content, and it is commonly employed in both colloquial speech and formal writing.