sovellettavinaan

Sovellettavinaan is a Finnish expression used primarily in formal, especially legal and administrative, texts to convey the sense of “as applicable” or “to the extent that it is applicable.” It functions as a qualifier that indicates that a rule, provision, or principle applies only under certain conditions or within a certain scope.

In usage, sovellettavinaan appears in sentences where a general rule may be limited by context. It is commonly found in statutory drafting, regulations, guidelines, and translations of legal material. The form is comparatively rare in everyday spoken Finnish, and when it does occur, it often signals a careful, precise style typical of official documents.

Morphologically, sovellettavinaan is treated as a fixed expression in many contexts, derived from the verb soveltaa (to apply) and its related participial form sovellettava (applicable). The exact analysis can vary among grammars, but the practical point is that it names the scope or applicability of a rule rather than asserting it in full generality. Because of its specialized character, it is usually explained in glossaries or style guides for legal Finnish.

Example usage in a sentence might be: “Sovellettavinaan tämän lain säännökset koskevat vain tiettyjä tapauksia,” meaning that the provisions apply to specific cases. The phrase helps ensure precision and prevents overgeneralization.

See also: Finnish language, Finnish grammar, Legal Finnish, statutory drafting.