myöhäiseksi

Myöhäiseksi is a Finnish grammatical form that comes from the adjective myöhäinen, meaning late. It is the translative form of that adjective (suffix -ksi) and is used to express a change of state toward being late or extending to a late time. In practice, it describes a situation where something ends up late or lasts into late hours.

Usage and sense

The word is typically found in contexts describing time that has shifted beyond the planned or expected point. For example, a day, a meeting, or a flight can “venyä myöhäiseksi,” meaning it stretched into late hours or into a later time than originally scheduled. It can also appear in phrases that indicate an extension to late in the day or night, such as myöhäiseksi illaksi or myöhäiseksi yöksi, signalling that a period continues late into the evening or night. It denotes a change of state or outcome with time, rather than merely indicating lateness in a relative sense.

Grammar notes

Myöhäiseksi is a translative form of the adjective myöhäinen and is used with verbs that describe events or processes changing over time. It is distinct from the adverb myöhään, which simply means “late” in a general sense without implying a change of state. The translative form is common in narrative, descriptive, and formal Finnish where the emphasis is on the progression of time.

Limitations and related forms

The term is not typically used to describe a person’s lateness; in such cases, Finnish more often uses myöhässä (late) or set phrases involving lateness or delays. Other -ksi translatives in Finnish serve to express similar change-of-state meanings with different adjectives.

See also

Finnish translative case; Finnish adjectives and their uses; Finnish time expressions.