Let $FO$ be first-order logic and $FO^k$ be $k$-variable segment of $FO$, i.e. $FO^k$ has only $k$ variables.
To my understanding, for every sentence $\varphi\in FO$ there exists a sentence $\psi\in FO^2$ such that for all finite structures $\mathfrak{A}$ with linear order it is the case that $\mathfrak{A}\vDash\varphi$ iff $\mathfrak{A}\vDash\psi$.
Is this true? Are there any assumptions about the vocabulary?
$\exists x\exists y (x<y \land \exists x(y<x))$
. $\endgroup$