asteittaisiin

Asteittaisiin is a Finnish verbal form used to express a hypothetical, passive action that would be carried out in steps or stages. The form is mostly found in linguistic discussions, descriptive grammars, and formal policy texts rather than everyday language. It embodies the concept of distributing an action across successive phases.

Etymology: It derives from asteittainen/asteittain (gradual, stepwise) plus the Finnish passive conditional suffix pattern, aligning with other forms like tehtäisiin. Its presence signals both passivity and conditional mood, fused to indicate staged execution.

Usage: It is typically encountered in theoretical explanations of mood and voice, or in formal documents describing planned, hypothetical procedures. In ordinary Finnish, speakers tend to use adverbs like asteittain or vaiheittain, or the verb phrase toteutetaan vaiheittain, rather than the inflected form asteittaisiin.

Grammatical notes: The exact morphological realization depends on the verb stem and the sentence's voice; asteittaisiin operates as a third-person plural passive conditional form in the broader Finnish verbal system. It is thus related to the general concept of gradation in text and to the signification of stepwise progression.

See also: asteittainen, asteittain, vaiheittain, järjestelmällinen. References: general Finnish grammar resources.