katsellessaan

Katsellessaan is a Finnish adverbial participle form derived from the verb katsella (to look at). It expresses that the action of looking occurs simultaneously with another action in the main clause, roughly translating to “while looking” or “as [someone] looked.” The form is non-finite and typically refers to the same subject as the main clause. It is commonly found in written Finnish and is used to add descriptive background without a separate subordinate clause.

Formation and use: Katsellessaan is built from the verb stem katsell- with the suffix -essaan (or -essään), which marks the third-person singular subject and connects the participle to the main clause. A parallel, neutral present adverbial participle without the possessive element is katsellen, which can refer to an unspecified subject. Examples: "Hän kulki pitkin katua, katsellessaan ympärilleen." (He walked along the street, looking around.) "Hän pysähtyi katsellessaan taakseen." (He stopped, looking behind him.) In both examples, the subject of the participle is understood to be the same as the subject of the main clause.

Relation to other forms: Katsellessaan provides a concise way to signal simultaneity of actions, contrasting with explicit finite clauses introduced by conjunctions like kun. It is most common in narrative prose and formal writing, but can appear in literary Finnish as a stylistic device. In everyday speech, speakers may replace it with a constructed clause, for example by using samalla kun or kun hän katsoo ympärilleen, depending on the desired nuance.