oppilaiksi

Oppilaiksi is a Finnish grammatical form that serves as the translative plural of the noun oppilas, meaning pupil or student. It expresses a change of status or role, roughly translating to “into pupils” or “as pupils” and is used with verbs that describe becoming or designation.

In practice, oppilaiksi is used with verbs of becoming. For example: Hän päätti tulla oppilaaksi, meaning “He decided to become a pupil.” With a plural subject, it can be used as: He aikovat tulla oppilaiksi, meaning “They intend to become pupils.” The form is also encountered in descriptions of groups entering a pupil role, though such uses are less common in everyday language.

The form is built from the stem oppilas and the translative plural suffix -iksi. The singular translative would be oppilaaksi, while oppilaiksi marks plural. ThisSuffix indicates a change of state or a designation into a particular category, rather than a static label.

Usage notes and semantics:oppilaiksi primarily appears in educational contexts referring to school-age students and the act of becoming or being designated as pupils. It is distinct from similar-sounding terms that refer to different educational statuses, such as opiskelija for a university student. The word illustrates how Finnish expresses changes of role with the translative case.

See also: oppilas, translatiivinen muoto.