Essiivien

Essiivi, or the essive case, is a Finnish grammatical case used to express a temporary state or role of a noun or adjective. It corresponds roughly to the English words “as” or “in the capacity of,” indicating how something is being considered at a given time.

Formation and forms: The singular essive is formed with the suffix -na/-nä, and the plural essive with -ina/-inä. Examples: opettaja (teacher) becomes opettajana (as a teacher); nuori (young) becomes nuorena (as a young person); ystävä (friend) becomes ystävänä (as a friend). Plural: opettajat → opettajina (as teachers); nuoret → nuorina (as youths). The essive can also appear with adjectives in predicative use, yielding forms such as vanha → vanhana (as old).

Usage and contrasts: The essive denotes an ongoing state or role, often with the verb olla (to be). For example, Hän on opettajana means “She/He is (acting) as a teacher.” For a change of state or identity, Finnish typically uses the translative case, as in Hän tuli opettajaksi, meaning “He became a teacher.” The essive thus emphasizes the current role or state rather than a new identity.

Related forms: In linguistic descriptions, essiivien is the genitive plural form of the noun essiivi, used when discussing the case itself, its inflection, or examples of its usage (for instance, essiivien taivutus – inflection of the essive forms). The essive is one of several cases in Finnish that mark grammatical function beyond the more spatial inessive or elative.

See also: Finnish grammar, translative case, noun inflection.