Ajaakseen

Ajaakseen is the third infinitive form of the Finnish verb ajaa, meaning to drive. It expresses purpose, roughly translating to “in order to drive.” The form is created by adding the ending -akseen to the verb stem, so for ajaa the result is ajaakseen. This infinitive is part of Finnish’s system of non-finite verb forms and is most commonly found in written or formal Finnish.

Ajaakseen is used to indicate the aim or purpose of an action described by the main verb in a sentence. The subject of the third infinitive is understood to be the same as the subject of the main verb. Because it signals purpose rather than a completed action, the III infinitive tends to appear in subordinate clauses or in constructions discussing intention, plans, or reasons for an action. It is characteristically formal and can appear in legal, instructional, or literary contexts.

In contemporary spoken Finnish, the III infinitive is encountered less frequently, with speakers often opting for simpler periphrastic constructions or other ways to express purpose. Nevertheless, the form remains standard in grammar references, dictionaries, and classic or official texts. Spelling respects vowel harmony, and in the case of verbs with a stem ending in -aa (as in ajaa), the form becomes ajaakseen. The same pattern appears with other verbs, yielding forms such as ollakseen, tehtakseen, which are used to express similar purposive meanings.