tällais

Tällais is a Finnish word that functions as a demonstrative element related to the adjective and pronoun system built around suchness or this kind of thing. It is not usually listed as a standalone dictionary entry in everyday use; rather, it appears as part of inflected forms of the base demonstrative adjective lähellä meaning this kind of thing, such as in phrases built from vaikka “tällainen” or “tällaiset.”

Morphology and usage

Tällais- serves as the stem in inflected forms of the word meaning “such” or “this kind of.” Common forms include tällainen (singular nominative), tällaiset (plural nominative), tällaisia (plural partitive), sekä various case endings such as tässä/tällaisessa (inessive) and tällaisesta (elative). The bare form tällais is rare in ordinary usage and typically appears only as part of longer inflected words or in linguistic descriptions.

Semantic role and distinctions

In discourse, tällais-/tällainen forms refer to items or phenomena of the kind being discussed. The distinction from lähisääniä like tämä or sellainen rests on proximity and reference: tämä typically marks something nearby or definite to the speaker, sellainen marks a more distant or generic reference, and tällainen covers “such” or “this kind of.” The words function both as determiners modifying a noun (tällaiset ihmiset, tällaisia asioita) and as pronouns in elliptical references (such is the case).

Examples

- Tällaiset ihmiset ovat tärkeitä. (Such people are important.)

- Olemme nähneet tällaisia tapauksia ennen. (We have seen such cases before.)

- Puhun tällaisesta ilmiöstä. (I am talking about such a phenomenon.)

Etymology

Tällais derives from tälla- and the demonstrative framework around tämä (this), forming the adjectival series that expresses “this kind of” or “such.” See also related forms tällaista, tällaisia, tällaisiin.