koulupäivään

Koulupäivään is the illative singular form of the Finnish noun koulupäivä, meaning a transition into or toward the school day. The word is formed from the compound koulu (school) and päivä (day), and its illative ending -ään (after a stem ending in a vowel) yields koulupäivään. In Finnish, the illative case commonly expresses movement toward something or entering a time period, such as a phase of the day.

The form is typically used in contexts that describe approaching, entering, or preparing for the school day, or in phrases that refer to events or planning within that time frame. Because the illative indicates a directional or temporal shift, koulupäivään appears in sentences that frame activities as occurring during or entering the school day, rather than simply naming the day itself.

Usage notes and related forms can help clarify meaning. For instance, adjectival or verbal constructions may pair illative forms with verbs related to preparation, scheduling, or progression through daily routines at school. Other case forms of koulupäivä (such as the nominative koulupäivä or the inessive koulupäivässä) are used for different grammatical purposes, while koulupäivään specifically marks a movement toward or into the school day.

Example: Valmistautuminen koulupäivään alkaa aikaisin. This illustrates how the illative can express preparation for the forthcoming period of a school day.