tulla Set Phrases: tulla toimeen, tulla kuuluisaksi

The verb tulla means "to come" — but a huge share of its everyday use has nothing to do with motion. Finnish leans on tulla to say become, to say things like get along, come to mind and be out of the question, and each of these is a fixed frame with its own case demands. The single most important thing this page teaches is that Finnish splits "become" into two different constructions depending on whether you are becoming a quality or an identity — a distinction English collapses into one word. Get that fork right and a whole register of natural Finnish opens up. For the full conjugation of tulla see tulla (verb reference); for the "become" case specifically, tulla + translative goes deeper.

"Become a quality": tulla + translative (-ksi)

When you become some quality or state — famous, old, happy, sick — Finnish uses tulla plus the translative case (-ksi) on the adjective. The translative is the "into a state" case, and this is its home turf.

So the pattern is tulla + [adjective]-ksi: kuuluisa → kuuluisaksi, vanha → vanhaksi, iloinen → iloiseksi. The English trap is enormous here: English says "become famous" with a bare adjective, so learners produce tulla kuuluisa — but the -ksi is obligatory. A second trap is reaching for olla ("be"): olla kuuluisa means "to be famous," a steady state, never "to become famous." Becoming is tulla; the -ksi is what marks the change. See Translative case for its full range.

Two very common members of this family describe falling ill:

"Become an identity": elative + tulla + nominative

When you become a someone — a doctor, a teacher, a champion — Finnish uses a different, very characteristic frame: the person goes into the elative (-sta / -stä, "out of"), tulla stays in the 3rd person, and the result is a bare nominative. Literally: "out of her came a doctor."

Notice the machinery: hänestä (elative of hän) + tuli + lääkäri (nominative). The person is not the subject — the result is. This is why the verb sits in a fixed 3rd-person tuli / tulee, agreeing with the outcome noun. English speakers almost never invent this on their own, because it is so unlike "she became a doctor," where "she" is plainly the subject. It is worth drilling until hänestä tuli feels automatic.

Choosing between the two frames

The fork is simple once you name it. Are you becoming a quality (an adjective) or an identity (a noun, usually a profession, role or type)?

The two can even blur — you will hear hänestä tuli kuuluisa (elative + adjective) too — but as a productive rule, adjectives take the translative and profession-nouns take the elative frame. When in doubt with an adjective, use -ksi.

tulla toimeen: getting by, getting along

Tulla toimeen is a fixed idiom meaning both "to get along (with someone)" and "to manage / make do." toimeen is the illative of toimi ("action, function") — a frozen ending you should not vary. With jonkun kanssa ("with someone") it means getting along socially; alone, it means coping or making ends meet.

tulla juttuun: hitting it off

Tulla juttuun — literally "to come into conversation" (juttu → juttuun, illative) — means to click with someone, to get on well. It overlaps with tulla toimeen but is warmer and more about rapport; it is (informal), at home in speech rather than formal writing.

tulla kysymykseen: being an option

Tulla kysymykseen — "to come into question" (kysymys → kysymykseen, illative) — means "to be a possibility / an acceptable option." You will meet it most often negated: ei tule kysymykseen = "out of the question, absolutely not."

tulla mieleen: coming to mind

Tulla mieleen — "to come to mind" (mieli → mieleen, illative) — is how Finnish reports a thought occurring to you. The person is in the allative (minulle, "to me"), the thought is the subject, and mieleen is the frozen goal. It is the everyday way to say "it occurred to me."

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• tulla means far more than "come" — it is Finnish's main verb for become, and it carries several fixed idioms.
• "Become a quality" → tulla + translative -ksi: tulla kuuluisaksi, vanhaksi, kipeäksi. The -ksi is obligatory and never harmonises.
• "Become an identity" → elative + tulla + nominative: hänestä tuli lääkäri — the result is the subject, so the verb stays 3rd person.
• Don't use olla for "become"; olla kuuluisa = "to be famous," not "to become."
• Fixed collocations, all with frozen illatives: tulla toimeen (get by/along), tulla juttuun (hit it off, informal), tulla kysymykseen (be an option — usually negated), tulla mieleen (come to mind).