juotamalla

Juotamalla is a Finnish grammatical form used to express means or method, roughly equivalent to the English phrase “by drinking.” It operates as an adverbial participle (gerundive) and is formed from the verb juoda (to drink) or, in related derivations, from juottaa (to make drink) by adding the suffix -malla to the verb stem.

The function of juotamalla is to indicate the means by which an action is performed. It is most commonly found in formal or instructional prose, such as directives, explanations of procedures, or health-related guidance, where the emphasis is on how something is achieved rather than on who performs it.

Usage and examples:

- Esimerkki: Juotamalla vettä voidaan ehkäistä nestehukkaa. (By drinking water, dehydration can be prevented.)

- The form tends to appear in written Finnish and in contexts where a precise conveyance of method is desired. It is less common in everyday speech, where simpler constructions may be used.

Relation to other forms:

- Juotamalla is distinct from juomalla, which centers on the act of drinking itself rather than the means by which something is done, and from juominen, the noun form meaning “drinking.” In practice, juotamalla and juomalla are both instrumental gerunds, but their exact stylistic or regional preferences can vary.

In sum, juotamalla functions as a means-focused gerund in Finnish, used mainly in formal writing to express “by drinking” as the method behind an action.