kaikkensa

Kaikkensa is a Finnish noun phrase that translates roughly to “everything one has” or “one’s all.” It refers to the total resources, energy, or effort a person is willing or able to invest in a task. The expression is idiomatic and emphasizes max effort rather than a specific quantity.

Origin and form: Kaikkensa is formed from the word kaikki meaning “all” plus the possessive suffix -nsä, producing a pronoun-like phrase that functions as a noun in sentences. It typically appears in the object position, most commonly with verbs that denote giving or exertion.

Usage: The phrase is most often found in contexts describing maximal effort. A classic use is with the verb antaa, meaning “to give,” as in hän antoi kaikkensa, meaning “he gave his all.” Other common constructions express the same motivation or extent, such as giving one’s all to a project or to a task. In sport and performance reporting, kaikensa is frequently used to convey a competitor’s intense effort, sometimes translated in English as “the best he could give” or “everything he had.”

Relation to related expressions: Kaikkensa is closely related to more general phrases about effort, such as tehdä jotakin kaikilla voimin (do something with all one’s might) and to the broader family of expressions about giving one’s best. It is distinct from phrases that describe partial effort, as kaikensa emphasizes completeness or extremity of effort.

See also: kaik- related idioms; antaa kaikkensa; kaikin voimin.