Allatiiviksi

Allatiiviksi is a Finnish grammatical form referring to the translative case used with nouns and adjectives to express transformation into a state or role, or designation as something. The form is created by adding the suffix -ksi to the stem, with vowel harmony applied as in other case forms. In everyday Finnish, this is most commonly seen after verbs of becoming or when stating a role or identity.

Common uses include:

- Becoming or taking on a role: opettajaksi (as a teacher), johtajaksi (as a leader), sairaanhoitajaksi (as a nurse). Example: Hän haluaa tulla opettajaksi.

- Describing a change of state with adjectives: vihreäksi (into green), suuremmaksi (into bigger). Example: Paita muuttui vihreäksi.

- Personal identity or designation with pronouns: minuksi (as me), sinuksi (as you; less common in speech but exists in grammar). Example: Hän sanoi tulemansa minuksi.

Notes:

- Allatiiviksi contrasts with the allative case (-lle), which marks direction toward a place rather than change of state. The translative -ksi focuses on becoming, functioning like “as” or “into” in English.

- In linguistic descriptions, allatiiviksi can be used to refer to the translative form of the noun allatiivi in grammars, i.e., the form that expresses “as/into” that case.

See also:

- Translatiivinen (translative case)

- -ksi suffix (Finnish translative marker)

- Finnish case system and vowel harmony