tippuvaa

Tippuvaa is a form of the Finnish present active participle derived from the verb tippua, meaning to fall or to drip. In everyday Finnish it is used as an adjective in the partitive singular, typically describing something that is currently dripping or continually falling. Examples include tippuvaa vettä (dripping water) or tippuvaa valoa (dripping light). In plural contexts, the participle can take the form tippuvia, as in tippuvia pisaroita (dripping droplets).

Morphology and syntax

Tippuvaa combines the stem of tippua with the participial suffix -va and the partitive ending -a, producing an attributive form that modifies a following noun in the partitive case. It is not a standalone noun; rather, it is a grammatical form used in descriptive phrases. The same participle can appear in other grammatical cases and numbers by applying standard Finnish inflection rules, for example tippuvan veden (genitive) or tippuvia vesiä (partitive plural with a plural noun).

Usage

The form is common in descriptive writing, poetry, and expressive prose to convey moisture, motion, or a sense of immediacy. It emphasizes an ongoing action rather than a completed state. While widely understood by Finnish speakers, tippuvaa is primarily encountered as a grammatical form rather than as a fixed lexical entry.

See also

Finnish grammar, present active participles, tippua.

Note: Tippuvaa is typically encountered as part of a larger noun phrase rather than as a stand-alone keyword.