kirjoittuaan

Kirjoittuaan is a Finnish word that functions as a postpositional adverb or a temporal conjunction. It is derived from the verb "kirjoittaa," meaning "to write." The suffix "-tuaan" indicates a completed action by the subject of the main clause. Essentially, it translates to "after having written" or "upon writing."

The structure typically involves a subject performing an action, followed by "kirjoittuaan" and then a subsequent action or state. For example, "Hän meni nukkumaan kirjoittuaan" means "He went to sleep after having written" or "He went to sleep upon writing." The subject of "kirjoittaa" (he) is the same as the subject of "meni nukkumaan" (he).

This grammatical construction is common in Finnish for expressing sequential events where the first event is a prerequisite or a preceding action to the second. It offers a concise way to link two clauses without needing a separate conjunction like "kun" (when) or "sen jälkeen kun" (after). The use of "kirjoittuaan" implies a direct temporal relationship and often a causal or logical connection between writing and the subsequent event. It is a past active participle in its adverbial form.