Vertaillessa

Vertaillessa is the Finnish adverbial participle form of the verb vertailla, meaning "to compare." It expresses that the action of comparing occurs simultaneously with the action of the main clause, and it is commonly translated as "while comparing" in English.

Morphology and usage: The form vertaillessa is created by adding the participial suffix -llessa to the stem of vertailla. It appears in subordinate clauses and can modify the main clause by specifying a concurrent action. In Finnish, such forms are frequently used in descriptive, analytical, or comparative writing.

Example: Vertaillessa kahden tuotteen ominaisuuksia, analyysi voi paljastaa eroja. (While comparing the features of two products, the analysis may reveal differences.)

Typographic and register notes: Vertaillessa is more common in written Finnish than in casual speech, where speakers may instead use explicit conjunctions to link clauses. It is one of several adverbial participles used to compress information in a sentence.

Related terms: vertailla (to compare); vertaaminen (the act of comparing); vertaileva (comparative). The form vertaillessa exemplifies the Finnish pattern of using -essa and -ossa adverbial participles.