Aikuisina

Aikuisina is the plural essive form of the Finnish noun aikuinen, meaning adults. It expresses a state or role of multiple people, roughly translating to “as adults” or “in adulthood.” The essive plural is formed with the suffix -ina, giving aikuisina; the singular form is aikuisena (as an adult). This form is used to describe people in a given state or role, often after verbs or in subordinate clauses.

Usage guidance: Aikuisina functions as a state/role descriptor for a plural subject. It is not a separate word with independent meaning outside its grammatical form, but a case inflection that can appear in sentences where plurality and state are being conveyed. It commonly appears with participles and verbs of being or becoming.

Examples:

- Kyselyyn vastanneet aikuisina osoittivat kiinnostusta kysymyksiin. (The adults who answered showed interest in the questions.)

- Kun he ovat aikuisina, he voivat tehdä omat päätöksensä. (When they are adults, they can make their own decisions.)

Notes: Aikuisina is contrasted with aikuisena (singular essive, “as an adult”) and aikuisiksi (translative, “into adulthood” or “as adults” in certain contexts). Like other essive forms, aikuisina is more common in formal or written Finnish and in contexts explicitly describing state or role of a group rather than everyday casual speech.

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