ensimmäisenä

Ensimmäisenä is a Finnish adverbial form derived from the adjective ensimmäinen, meaning "first." It is used to express position in a sequence or to indicate priority, similar to saying “as the first” or “in the first place.” The form is common in both spoken and written Finnish and appears in contexts ranging from everyday conversation to formal prose.

Usage notes:

- Ensimmäisenä is often used to describe the role or position of a person or thing within a series, such as a ranking or an order of events. For example, Ensimmäisenä haluan kiittää kaikkia osallistujia means “First of all I want to thank all participants.”

- It typically denotes being first in a sequence rather than starting a list. When people want to begin enumerating items, Finnish often uses ensimmäiseksi, which translates to “first of all” or “firstly.”

- The form can appear with verbs like olla (to be) or toimia (to act) to express being first in a given situation, e.g., Hän oli ensimmäisenä maalissa, “He was first to cross the finish line.”

Related forms and notes:

- The related adjective is ensimmäinen (first). The adverbial form ensimmäiseksi is commonly used to introduce a list, while ensimmäisenä emphasizes position in a sequence or role.

- Other ordinal forms in Finnish include toinen (second) and kolmas (third); their corresponding adverbial forms function similarly.

- In standard Finnish, ensimmäisenä is widely understood and accepted in formal and informal contexts.

Examples:

- Ensimmäisenä vastaan kysymyksiin, sitten annan lisätietoja.

- Hän nousi ensimmäisenä kehään voittajana.