tapaiset

Tapaiset is a Finnish adjective and determiner used to refer to things or people of a kind that has already been mentioned or is understood in the discourse. It translates roughly to “such” or “of that kind” in English and is most commonly used with plural nouns, as in tapaiset ihmiset or tapaisia kokemuksia.

In grammar, tapaiset behaves like other Finnish adjectives. The base form is tapainen, and tapaiset is the plural nominative form. It inflects for case and number in the same way as other adjectives, yielding forms such as tapaisia (partitive plural) and tapaisiin (illative plural) in different grammatical contexts. It is closely related to other demonstratives such as tällaiset (these kinds) and tuollaiset (those kinds), and it can be contrasted with the more immediate määrityssanat such as tämän- or nuo- forms depending on referential distance.

Usage notes: tapaiset is typically used when the speaker wants to indicate a class or type that has already been established in the conversation or text. It is less common in highly formal writing than in everyday spoken Finnish, where more explicit references to the class may appear. It can be used for both concrete and abstract categories, such as tapaisia tilanteita (such kinds of situations) or tapaisia kokemuksia (such kinds of experiences).

See also: tällaiset, tuollaiset, noin.