onnistuuko

Onnistuuko is a Finnish verb form used to ask whether something will work, is feasible, or can be accomplished. It comes from the intransitive verb onnistua, meaning to succeed or to turn out well. The phrase is often translated as “will this work?” or “is this possible?”

In use, onnistuuko is employed to inquire about the feasibility or likelihood of plans, attempts, or outcomes. It implies a concern about results rather than mere possibility and is common in both casual and formal conversation. The affirmative counterpart is onnistuu (it works/it succeeds), while the past tense is onnistui (it succeeded). The equivalent negative form is ei onnistu (it does not work).

Grammatically, onnistuuko is formed by adding the question particle -ko/-kö to the present tense third-person singular stem onnistu-; the subject can appear after the verb or be understood from context. Although Finnish allows person-specific question forms, onnistuuko generally targets the proposition as a whole rather than a specific subject. The same root also yields questions in different contexts, such as Onnistuiko tämä projekti? (Did this project succeed?) or Onnistuuko keittiöremontti tänä viikonloppuna? (Will the kitchen renovation succeed this weekend?)

Examples:

- Onnistuuko tämä suunnitelma tänä vuonna? (Will this plan succeed this year?)

- Onnistuinko minä tässä? (Did I succeed in this?)

- Ei onnistu ilman lisää resursseja. (It does not work without more resources.)

Overall, onnistuuko is a key tool in Finnish for querying feasibility and outcomes, signaling a concern about whether an intended action will produce the desired result.