nielemessä

Nielemessä is a Finnish word originating from the verb nieleä, meaning to swallow. It is the present active participle form used to express that the subject is actively performing the act of swallowing, often in the sense of being “in the act of swallowing” or “swallowing (at the moment).” In practical usage it commonly appears with the auxiliary verb olla to indicate ongoing action: Hän on nielemässä vettä means “He is swallowing water.”

Grammatically, nielemässä is formed from the verb stem niele- with the participial ending -mässä, producing a present active participle in the form used together with olla to describe a current action. The related noun nieleminen means “swallowing” in a more abstract or generalized sense, and the verb nieleä is the base lexical form.

Usage notes and examples illustrate its function. It can describe a happening at a particular moment or within a broader scene: Hän on nielemässä vettä translates to “He is swallowing water,” while Lapsi on nielemässä sylkeä can be understood as “The child is swallowing saliva.” The form may appear in narrative or descriptive contexts where an action is foregrounded, and it fits within standard Finnish participial constructions with olla.

See also: nieleä, nieleminen. Nielemässä shares semantics with other present active participles in -mässä/-mässä forms, and it is primarily a descriptive, situational form rather than a standalone finite verb.