Keskeisenä

Keskeisenä is the essive case form of the Finnish adjective keskeinen, meaning central or essential. The essive is used to describe a temporary state or role, roughly translating to “as” or “in the capacity of.” Therefore keskeisenä conveys the sense of “as central” or “in the central role,” and it is commonly used to frame goals, issues, or characteristics within a given context.

In practice, keskeisenä appears in formal or analytical writing to indicate what is considered central in a discussion or plan. It often follows a noun in predicative phrases such as keskeisenä tavoitteena (as a central/primary objective) or keskeisenä kysymyksenä (as the central question). It helps emphasize priority elements without altering the main noun.

Morphology and usage notes: The form derives from keskeinen with the essive suffix -nä/-na, yielding keskeisenä. It is used in singular and does not encode gender, aligning with Finnish case-based inflection rather than gender distinctions. The form is frequent in essays, policy reports, and academic writing to signal core aspects of a topic.

Examples:

- Keskeisenä tavoitteena on lisätä oppimisen tuloksia.

- Keskeisenä kysymyksenä on, miten rahoitus järjestetään.

- Hankkeen keskeisenä tehtävänä on kartoittaa päätöksenteon tarpeet.