muuttamalla

Muuttamalla is the adverbial participle (gerund) of the Finnish verb muuttaa, meaning to change or to move. It is used to express the means or manner by which an action is performed and is often translated into English as “by changing” or “by moving.” As a non-finite verb form, muuttamalla typically modifies the main clause rather than standing alone.

Formation and use: The suffix -malla (or -mällä after certain consonant combinations) is attached to the verb stem. From muuttaa the result is muuttamalla. As a gerund, muuttamalla can take possessive endings to indicate what is being changed, for example muuttamalla tapojansa means “by changing his/her habits.” It generally accompanies a main clause and is separated by a comma in writing.

Examples:

- Muuttamalla ruokavaliota voit pudottaa painoa. (By changing your diet you can lose weight.)

- Yritys menestyy muuttamalla toimintatapojaan. (The company succeeds by changing its operating methods.)

- Hän oppii paremmin muuttamalla lähestymistapaa. (He learns better by changing his approach.)

Related forms and notes: The noun form cambiant is muuttaminen, which refers to the act of changing. Other non-finite forms derived from muuttaa include various participles and the infinitive forms used in different syntactic contexts. In Finnish style, muuttamalla is common in instructional, advisory, and expository texts to indicate method or means.