Voittaen

Voittaen is a Finnish adverbial participle derived from the verb voittaa, meaning "to win." It denotes an action that has been completed by the subject, typically preceding or accompanying the main action, and is commonly translated into English as "having won" or "by having won." The form is mainly found in formal or literary prose, rather than everyday speech.

Morphology and usage

Voittaen is formed by adding the suffix -en to the verb stem. As an adverbial participle, it creates a subordinate clause that sets the circumstance for the main clause, without requiring a finite verb. It can describe how something is achieved or the condition under which the main action occurs. In many texts, voittaen provides a concise way to convey a sequence of events or a causal background.

Nuance and related forms

Voittaen contrasts with voittamalla, another adverbial participle that can be rendered as "by winning." While voittaen emphasizes the completed result (having won), voittamalla often highlights the process or means (by winning). The noun form voittaminen ("winning") and the verb voittaa ("to win") are part of the same word family and appear in related constructions. Finnish also uses other participial forms to express similar ideas, but voittaen remains the traditional, stately option for indicating a completed action.

Examples

Voittaen kilpailun, hän sai palkinnon. This translates roughly as "Having won the competition, he received the prize."

See also

Voittaa, voittaminen, voittamalla, Finnish participles.