neliönä

Neliönä is the essive case form of the Finnish noun neliö, meaning square. It expresses a temporary state or role, roughly translating to "as a square" or "in the form of a square" in English. In Finnish grammar, the essive form is used to describe how something is presented or perceived at a given moment.

In practice, neliönä appears mainly in descriptive or instructional texts, such as geometry descriptions, diagrams, and language explanations, where a shape is referred to in its square form. It marks that something is being treated or represented as a square rather than as a different state or construction.

A common point of reference is the contrast with the translative form neliöksi, which indicates becoming or designation as a square. For example, one might say that a figure can be presented neliönä (as a square) or that a plan becomes neliöksi (to be defined as a square) in a transformation description. This distinction helps separate the idea of a current state from a process of change.

Examples include: "Kuvio voidaan esittää neliönä." ("The figure can be presented as a square.") "Piirrä laatikko neliönä, jonka sivu on 2 cm." ("Draw a box as a square with side length 2 cm.") "Kuvion rajat on tulkittu neliönä tutkimuksessa." While not as common in everyday speech, neliönä is frequently found in textbooks, technical writing, and linguistic discussions about Finnish case forms.