Hooajalisteks

Hooajalisteks is an Estonian grammatical form derived from the adjective hooajaline, meaning seasonal. It represents the translative case in plural form and is used to indicate a change into a seasonal category or status. The form is most often seen in predicative expressions with verbs such as olema (to be) or saama (to become).

In practice, hooajalisteks is used to describe a shift or designation into a seasonal group or role. For example, nad muutusid hooajalisteks töötajateks translates roughly as “they became seasonal workers.” Another common construction is to describe products or services as becoming seasonal, as in ettevõte hakkas käsitlema tooteid hooajalisteks toodeteks (the company began to treat the products as seasonal).

The usage of hooajalisteks is more common in formal writing, HR and tourism contexts, or policy documents. In everyday speech, speakers often use the attributive form hooajalised (seasonal) when describing people or items, e.g., hooajalised töötajad, rather than using the translative predicative form.

Morphologically, hooajalisteks is formed from the base hooajaline with the plural translative ending -iteks/-eks, indicating a change of state. It functions grammatically as a predicative modifier in sentences and is not typically used as a standalone noun.

See also: Estonian grammar, translative case, adjectives in Estonian, predicative constructions.