Aikaisemmissa

Aikaisemmissa is a Finnish inflected form of the adjective aikaisempi, meaning earlier or previous. It functions as the inessive plural form, used when referring to “the earlier ones” or “in the earlier cases” in relation to a plural noun that is in the inessive case. The phrase is common in written Finnish, especially in analytic or comparative contexts.

In practice, aikaisemmissa occurs with plural nouns in the inessive case, such as tutkimuksissa, vaiheissa, or tapauksissa. Examples include: “Aikaisemmissa tutkimuksissa on todettu...” (In the previous studies it has been found...) and “Aikaisemmissa vaiheissa suunnitelma muuttui.” This construction allows speakers and writers to situate statements relative to what has already been mentioned or considered.

Morphology and usage notes: aikaisemmissa is formed from aikaisempi (the comparative form meaning earlier) with the inessive plural ending -issa/-issä. It is distinct from aikaisempi (singular nominative), aikaisemmin (adverb), or aikaisemmat (plural nominative). The choice of form depends on the number and case of the noun it modifies, with aikaisemmissa specifically marking plural and the inessive.

See also: aikaisempi, aikaisemmin, aikaisemmat. The term is typical in academic writing and formal prose and is less common in casual speech, where simpler phrases like “aiemmin” or “vanhemmissa” might be used depending on context.