kirurgiliseks

Kirurgiliseks is the translative form of the Estonian adjective kirurgiline, meaning surgical. In Estonian grammar, the translative case marks a change of state and is often used after verbs such as saama (to become) or muutuma (to grow into). The form kirugiliseks signals “becoming surgical” or entering a state characterized by surgery, rather than naming a specific profession.

In practice, Estonian commonly expresses becoming a profession with the noun form, using the translative kirguriks: for example, becoming a surgeon is usually said as ta sai kirurgiks. Therefore, kirurgiliseks is relatively rare for professions and is more likely to appear in formal, technical, or abstract contexts where a state or quality related to surgery is being described, rather than a straightforward career change.

Formation and forms: kirurgiliseks is formed by taking the adjective kirurgiline and adding the translative suffix -ks. The singular translative is kirugiliseks; the plural translative would be kirurgilisteks. The choice between kirugiliseks and kirugiliks (and their plural forms) depends on number and the surrounding grammatical structure.

Examples:

- Ta muutus kirurgiliseks. (He became surgical in status.)

- Patsiendi seisund muutus kirurgiliseks. (The patient’s condition became surgical/staged as surgical.)

- Ta soovib saada kirurgiks. (For comparison: this is the more common expression to indicate becoming a surgeon as a profession.)

See also: Estonian grammar, translative case, adjective forms, saama.