Virallisina

Virallisina is the plural essive form of the Finnish adjective virallinen, meaning official. The essive case expresses a temporary state or role, roughly translating to “as official …” in English. In plural form, virallisina describes a noun (in the plural) that is in the state of being official, typically referring to a role or function held by the referenced people or entities.

Morphology and usage. In Finnish, adjectives agree with the noun they modify in number and case. The plural essive form of virallinen is virallisina, used when the predicate or qualifying phrase describes a plural subject in the essive, such as identifying roles during an event or process. This form distinguishes from the singular essive virallisena and from the adverbial form virallisesti.

Common constructions include phrases where a group or multiple subjects are described in their official capacity, for example, virallisina todistajina (as official witnesses) or virallisina edustajina (as official representatives). In practice, virallisina typically precedes the noun it modifies and appears in predicative positions to denote status.

Examples. Kokouksen virallisina todistajina toimi kolme henkilöä. Keskustelun aikana ryhmä toimi virallisina edustajina.

Distinction. Virallisina is contrasted with virallinen (the base adjective) and with virallisesti (the adverb meaning “officially”). It is not a separate lexical item but a grammatical form used to express plural official status in ellipsis-free clauses.

See also. Finnish grammar; essive case; adjective inflection; virallinen.