maksaessaan

Maksaessaan is a non-finite verb form in Finnish, the present active adverbial participle of the verb maksaa (to pay). It denotes an action that occurs at the same time as the action of the main clause, roughly translating to “while paying” or “as he/she pays” in English. The form is commonly found in written Finnish and is used to link clauses succinctly without a conjunction. The subject of the participle is normally the same as the subject of the main clause; if a different subject is intended, a different construction is typically required.

Formation and variation: The participle is formed from the verb stem maks- with the suffix -essaan for third-person singular (maksaessaan, meaning “while he/she pays”). Other subjects use corresponding forms such as maksaessani (first person singular, “while I pay”) or maksaessanne (second person plural, “while you pay”). The suffixes indicate the subject of the adverbial participle.

Usage notes: Adverbial participles like maksaessaan are characteristic of formal or literary Finnish. They express concurrent action and do not convey a specific tense on their own; the surrounding verb provides temporal context. They can sometimes create ambiguity if the subject is not clear from context, so clear reference to the intended subject is advisable.

Examples:

- Hän maksoi laskun maksaessaan sen käteisellä. (He paid the bill, paying it in cash.)

- Maksaessani laskua huomasin virheen. (While I was paying the bill, I noticed an error.)

- Hän sanoi, maksaessaan velkansa, että tilanne oli ratkaistu. (He said, while paying his debt, that the situation had been resolved.)