tuliseen

Tuliseen is the illative singular form of the Finnish adjective tulinen, meaning fiery or spicy. In Finnish, the illative case marks movement into or toward something, so tuliseen modifies a noun in illative form, often referring to food or sauces described as hot or spicy.

Usage tends to occur with nouns referring to edible items or edible preparations. For example, Lisää tuliseen ruokaan chiliöljyä means add chili oil to spicy food, and Sekoita sipulisilppua tuliseen kastikkeeseen means mix onion flakes into the fiery sauce. In such phrases, the noun governs the case (illative) while the adjective tulinen remains in its illative form to agree in mood and tense with the noun phrase.

Etymology and forms: tulinen is derived from the noun tuli, meaning fire, with the suffix -nen forming an adjective meaning fiery or related to fire. The illative suffix -iin/-en (here -iseen) is applied to the adjective when it modifies a noun in the illative. Finnish adjectives regularly decline to agree with the noun’s case and number, so tulinen becomes tuliseen in illative singular before a singular noun.

Other uses: beyond food, tulinen can describe things metaphorically as fiery or intense, such as a tulinen keskustelu (a heated or fiery discussion) or tulinen väri (a fiery red color). The sense remains close to “hot,” “spicy,” or “intense” depending on context.

See also: Finnish grammar, illative case, adjectives in Finnish.