ttavapääte

ttavapääte is the Finnish linguistic term for the suffix -ttava/-ttävä, a derivational ending attached to verb stems to form deverbal adjectives or participles. The ending conveys a sense of “to be done” or “to be performed,” and the resulting words can describe a noun or function as predicative adjectives.

In use, ttavapääte typically creates adjectives that indicate something is to be acted upon, required, or capable of being performed. Common examples include muutettava suunnitelma (the plan that must be changed), luettava teksti (text that is to be read or readable text), and asennettava laite (device to be installed). The construction is productive in both everyday Finnish and formal or administrative language, where directives or specifications often specify things that are to be done.

The ttavapääte is distinct from the present active participle suffix -va/-vä, which describes ongoing action. In contrast, -ttava/-ttävä tends to express potential, obligation, or future action regarding the verb’s root, rather than a current activity. It can modify nouns directly or appear in predicate position, and it inflects as an adjective like other Finnish participial adjectives.

Historically, the suffix has been a standard part of Finnish derivational morphology and appears across a wide range of verbs. It remains a common tool for concisely signaling forthcoming or required actions in both descriptive and prescriptive language.