juomalla

Juomalla is a Finnish word with two main grammatical uses. It can be the adessive form of the noun juoma, meaning a drink, used to express means or accompaniment. It can also be the instrumental gerund of the verb juoda, meaning “drinking” as a method or manner. In practice, the same surface form often serves different functions depending on context.

As an adessive, juomalla appears in phrases where a drink is the instrument or accompaniment. In such cases it functions similarly to other adessive constructs that indicate the means by which something is done. The sense is close to “with a drink” or “by a drink,” and the exact meaning becomes clear from the surrounding words.

As a gerund, juomalla is formed from the verb juoda (to drink) with the suffix -malla, yielding an instrumental gerund meaning “by drinking” or “through drinking.” This usage expresses the manner or means of an action and is common in written and formal Finnish when the intention is to state how something is done.

Usage notes: Because juomalla can arise from two different grammatical pathways, its interpretation relies on sentence structure and context. In everyday speech, the adessive sense is frequent when talking about beverages or drinking as a practice, while the gerund form appears in more explicit or descriptive constructions.

See also: Finnish grammar, adessive case (-lla), instrumental gerunds (-malla), juoma, juoda.