aloittaessaan
Aloittaessaan is a Finnish verb form used as a present active adverbial participle (converb) of the verb aloittaa, meaning to begin. It expresses an action that occurs at the same time as the action in the main clause, and the subject of the converb is typically the same as the subject of the main clause. The form is common in written Finnish and is used to link two actions more concisely than with a separate subordinate clause.
Formation and usage: The participle is built from the verb stem aloitta- plus the suffix -essaan, which
Translation and nuance: Aloittaessaan can be translated as “as he began,” “while starting,” or “upon starting,”
- Hän meni kokoukseen, aloittaessaan puheensa. (He went to the meeting, as he began his speech.)
- He puhuivat aloittaessaan projektin suunnittelun. (They spoke as they began planning the project.)
Notes: The subject of the converb is normally the same as that of the main clause. If