Päätehtävänä

Päätehtävänä is a Finnish expression formed from the noun päätehtävä (main task) with the suffix -nä, which marks a state or role in the translative case. The phrase literally means “as the main task” and is used to describe what function or responsibility a person, group, or project holds within a given context.

In use, päätehtävänä is common in instructional, organizational, and academic texts to specify the central objective or duty. It is typically combined with a copula such as olla (to be) to state the role of the main task. For example: “Tämän projektin päätehtävänä on laatia loppuraportti.” (The main task of this project is to produce the final report.) Another example: “Päätehtävänä on selvittää asiakkaan tarpeet.” (The main task is to determine the customer’s needs.)

The expression can be contrasted with related forms such as päätehtäväksi, which uses the -ksi suffix to indicate designation as a goal or target to be achieved. This distinction reflects different syntactic roles: -nä expresses a present role or state, while -ksi often signals a planned designation or objective.

See also: päätehtävä, Finnish grammatical cases and translative usage, task designation in project planning.

In summary, päätehtävänä is a concise, neutral way to indicate that a particular task or objective is the central or primary one within a given framework.