merkitsemään

Merkitsemään is the third infinitive form of the Finnish verb merkitä, which means to mark, to indicate, or to label. This non-finite form is built with the suffix -mään attached to the verb stem (merkitse- + -mään) and is used in certain grammatical constructions rather than as a standalone predicate.

In Finnish grammar, the -maan/-mään infinitive (the third infinitive) serves to express purpose or intention when combined with another verb. It often appears in clauses that describe what someone is going to do or why something is being done. The form is more common in written or formal language and in older or descriptive texts; it is less frequent in everyday speech, where the basic 1st infinitive merkitä is usually sufficient.

A typical example is a sentence such as: Hän meni merkitsemään osoitetta karttaan, meaning “He went to mark the address on the map.” This illustrates how merkitsemään conveys the idea of performing the marking for a purpose, linked to a main verb like meni (went). The third infinitive can also appear after verbs of movement or action to indicate the intent behind the action, or in relative clauses and legal or instructional contexts.

In summary, merkitsemään is a specialized non-finite form used to express purpose with the verb merkitä, mainly in formal Finnish, and it cannot stand alone as a finite predicate.