voiteeksi

Voiteeksi is a Finnish grammatical form derived from the noun voide, meaning cream or ointment. It is the translative case, formed by adding the suffix -ksi to voide, and it is used to express becoming or designation as a cream. In practice, voiteeksi appears in constructions that describe a change of state or a role, such as turning something into a cream or specifying that something is to be used as a cream.

In Finnish, the translative voiteeksi is commonly used after verbs that denote transformation or assignment, for example with tuli “to become” or muuttaa “to convert.” A typical sentence is Aine muuttuu voiteeksi, meaning "The substance becomes a cream." Another example is Laite voidaan muuntaa voiteeksi lämpökäsittelyllä, "The device can be converted into a cream through heat treatment." The translative emphasizes the process of becoming or being designated as a cream, rather than simply existing as one.

By comparison, the essive form voiteena means “as a cream” in the sense of a temporary role or state, without focusing on a change of state. Both forms relate to the same root, voide, but they convey different nuances in meaning and are chosen according to the speaker’s intent.

Etymology and morphology: voiteeksi is formed from voide plus the translative suffix -ksi, a productive pattern for turning nouns into expressions of becoming or designation. This pattern is common across Finnish, applied to many head nouns beyond voide.

See also: voide, voiteena, translative case, essive case.