tietäessään

Tietäessään is a Finnish word that functions as a clitic, a word that is phonologically bound to another word, often a preceding one. It is derived from the verb tietää, meaning "to know," and the possessive suffix -nsä, indicating "his/her/its/their." Therefore, "tietäessään" literally translates to "in his/her/its/their knowing" or "when he/she/it/they knew."

This clitic is commonly used in subordinate clauses to express a condition or circumstance related to knowledge. It implies that the subject of the main clause is aware of something that is happening or has happened, and this awareness influences their actions or state. For example, in the sentence "Hän lähti tietäessään totuuden" (He left knowing the truth), "tietäessään" connects the act of leaving with the knowledge of the truth.

The grammatical function of "tietäessään" is similar to a temporal or conditional adverbial clause in English. It can often be translated using phrases like "knowing that," "when he/she/it/they knew," or "aware that." The specific pronoun implied by "-nsä" is usually determined by the context of the sentence. This clitic form is a characteristic feature of Finnish grammar, contributing to the language's concise and often agglutinative nature.