Ymmärrettävänä

Ymmärrettävänä is a Finnish grammatical form derived from the verb ymmärtää, meaning to understand. It represents a form of the passive participle that expresses something like “to be understood” or “understandable.” The form is used within Finnish participial syntax to describe or characterize something in terms of its understandability.

Morphology and function: Ymmärrettävänä belongs to the family of participles that can inflect for case, number, and determiner as adjectives or adnominal modifiers. The -nä (and related) inflection marks a specific predicative or attributive position within a noun phrase or clause. As with other participial forms, ymmärrettävänä can be used to describe content, text, instructions, or messages in terms of how easily they can be understood, rather than simply labeling them as understandable.

Usage and register: The form tends to appear in more formal or analytical Finnish, such as descriptive grammar, language teaching materials, or written prose that aims to discuss readability or clarity. In everyday speech, speakers are more likely to use the base adjective ymmärrettävä or other simpler expressions to convey understandability. Ymmärrettävänä thus occupies a specialized niche within Finnish syntax, offering a nuanced way to comment on how comprehensible something is.

Related forms and notes: The concept relates to the verb ymmärtää and to other participial constructions in Finnish. It illustrates how Finnish uses participles with case inflections to extend the expressive range of adjectives and to build more precise descriptions of readability and comprehension.

See also: Ymmärtää, Finnish grammar, participles, adjectives.