ympäröimänä

Ympäröimänä is a Finnish grammatical form meaning “being surrounded (by).” It is formed from the verb ympäröidä, which means “to surround,” and is used to describe a state in which something is encircled or enclosed by other elements. The form belongs to the essive (state) category of participles and is typically used with the copula olla to describe a location or condition in descriptive or literary contexts. In practice, ympäröimänä expresses an ongoing or current surrounding, as opposed to ympäröity, which is the standard past passive participle meaning “surrounded” as a completed state.

Formation and use: ympäröimänä is built from the stem ympäröi- with the participial suffix that marks it as a participle, plus the essive ending -nä, yielding a predicative or adjunct form that can describe the subject’s condition. It often appears in predicative position with olla, for example in descriptive or narrative clauses where the surrounding environment is part of the described state.

Nuances: the essive form conveys the state of being surrounded at the time of reference and is commonly found in formal or literary Finnish. It can be contrasted with ympäröity (surrounded, a completed state) to express slight differences in aspect or temporal perspective.

See also: ympäröi, ympäröity, essive case, Finnish grammar.