kasvaneina

Kasvaneina is a Finnish grammatical form used to express a temporary state or role, roughly translating to “as grown-ups” or “in the state of having grown.” It is the essive plural form of the past participle kasvanut (grown) and is typically found in literary or formal language, though it can occur in everyday speech as well.

Morphology and function: The essive case marks a temporary or situational state. For participles, the essive plural commonly appears with the ending -eina, yielding kasvaneina. This form allows speakers to refer to people or groups from the perspective of their grown-up status, often in contrast to previous stages of life. It can stand with or without an accompanying verb, and its precise interpretation depends on context.

Usage: Kasvaneina is used to depict how individuals are perceived or behave in their mature state. It is especially common in narrative prose when reflecting on characters’ development or describing transitions between life stages. The construction can carry nuance of reminiscence, evaluation, or social perspective, depending on the surrounding sentence.

Example: Kasvaneina he muistivat nuoruuden tapahtumat. (As grown-ups, they remembered the events of youth.) This illustrates how the form situates the subject in a grown-up role while discussing past experiences.

Relation to other forms: Kasaneina is part of a broader set of essive forms in Finnish, used to express states such as “as a teacher” (opettajana) or “as grown-ups” (kasvaneina), each serving a distinct temporal or role-based nuance.

See also: Finnish grammar, essive case, participles.