palauttaessaan

Palauttaessaan is a Finnish grammatical form. It is the third infinitive form of the verb 'palauttaa', which means "to return" or "to restore". Specifically, it is the adessive case of the third infinitive. This form is used to indicate an action happening *while* another action is being performed, or as a temporal clause meaning "when returning" or "upon returning".

For example, the sentence "Löysin avaimet palauttaessaan takin" translates to "I found the keys when returning the coat" or "I found the keys while returning the coat". The core verb is 'palauttaa', and the '-essaan' ending signifies the third infinitive, while the '-an' suffix indicates the adessive case, functioning similarly to "while" or "when" in English temporal clauses.

The third infinitive in Finnish has several forms depending on the grammatical case and possessive suffix. Palauttaessaan is specifically the adessive form with a third-person possessive suffix. This grammatical structure is common in Finnish for expressing simultaneous or closely related actions. Understanding this form is crucial for comprehending the nuances of Finnish temporal and causal relationships within sentences.