kohtuullisina

Kohtuullisina is a Finnish grammatical form of the adjective kohtuullinen, meaning reasonable, fair, or moderate. In Finnish, kohtuullisina represents the essive plural form, which expresses a temporary state or role—roughly “as reasonable ones” or “in a reasonable capacity.” It is used in predicative clauses, typically after verbs of being or thinking, to describe how subjects are regarded or perceived.

Morphology and usage

The base adjective kohtuullinen declines to the essive case in two numbers. Singular essive is kohtuullisena, and plural essive is kohtuullisina. This form is often found in sentences with copular verbs such as ovat (are), pidettiin (were considered), or koetaan (are perceived). It generally appears when the speaker describes a state or status of a plural subject.

Common usage notes

- Kohtuullisina is mainly used in predicative constructions. For attributive plural descriptions, the usual form is kohtuulliset or kohtuullisia, depending on case.

- The adverbial equivalent meaning “moderately” or “reasonably” is kohtuullisesti, which has a different role from the essive adjectives.

Examples

- Hinnat ovat kohtuullisina. (The prices are reasonable.)

- Henkilöt pidettiin kohtuullisina ihmisinä. (The people were regarded as reasonable people.)

Relation to related forms

- Kohtuullinen is the base form; kohtuullisena is the singular essive, while kohtuullisina is the plural essive.

- For related meaning in adverb form, use kohtuullisesti. Endings vary with case and number in other Finnish constructions.