päättävän

Päättävän is the genitive singular form of the Finnish present active participle päättävä, which is derived from the verb päättää meaning "to decide" or "to determine." The present active participle denotes an ongoing or habitual action performed by the subject and in Finnish grammar functions both as an adjective and, in some contexts, as a noun. Päättävä can be translated as "deciding" or "the one who decides." The form päättävän is used when the participle modifies a noun in the genitive case, or within relative or dependent clauses.

Usage and meaning

As an attributive form, päättävä describes someone or something that decides. In practice, it often appears in a noun phrase such as päättävän henkilön, meaning "the deciding person's" or "of the deciding person." The participle can also introduce or participate in relative-like constructions that convey the sense of "that decides" without a full verb clause.

Examples

- Päättävän henkilön päätökset – the decisions of the deciding person.

- Päättävän toiminnan seuraukset – the consequences of the deciding action.

- In formal or technical Finnish, päättävä may appear in subordinate clauses or as part of a noun phrase to convey ongoing decision-making.

Related forms and distinctions

Päättävä belongs to the class of present active participles formed with the -va/-vä suffix. It declines like an adjective, with gender-neutral endings that depend on case and number. The past participle form is päättynyt, used for "finished/decided," which is distinct in meaning and usage from the present active participle. In everyday language, speakers may instead use explicit relative clauses (joka päättää) rather than the participial form in some contexts.

Notes

Päättävän is most common in formal, academic, or legal Finnish, where participial constructions are used to create concise noun phrases and precise modifiers.