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Peliä pelattaessa kukin on panostamassa pottiin.

Peliä pelattaessa kukin on panostamassa pottiin.
While the game is played, each is betting into the pot.
From Lesson 299:The indefinite pronoun each (kukin)·Finnish

Breakdown of Peliä pelattaessa kukin on panostamassa pottiin.

olla
to be
pelata
to play
peli
game
kukin
each
panostaa
to bet
potti
pot (prize pool, gambling)

Questions & Answers about Peliä pelattaessa kukin on panostamassa pottiin.

Why is kukin used here instead of jokainen?
While both can translate to "each" or "everyone", kukin emphasizes individuals acting separately. Here, it highlights that every single player is individually putting their own bet into the pot, rather than the group acting collectively.
What form is the word pelattaessa?
This is a temporal construction meaning "while playing" or "when played". Specifically, it is the passive form of the second infinitive. It is built from the passive stem pelatta-, plus the infinitive marker -e-, and the inessive ending -ssa (meaning "in").
Why is the word peliä in the partitive case?
In this passive "while" construction (pelattaessa), the action is ongoing and not yet finished. Because the playing is currently happening and incomplete, its object (peliä) must be in the partitive case.
Why say on panostamassa instead of just the regular present tense panostaa?
Using the verb olla (to be) with the -massa form of a verb creates a continuous meaning, much like the English "-ing" form. It emphasizes that the players are currently in the exact middle of the act of betting.
Why does pottiin end in -iin?
The verb panostaa (to bet, to invest) requires the target of the action to be in the illative ("into") case. The bets are actively moving into the pot, so potti becomes pottiin.

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