Eläimiin

Eläimiin is the illative plural form of the Finnish noun eläin, meaning into animals or toward animals. In Finnish, the illative case expresses direction or movement toward a destination, and the plural form typically ends in -iin. Thus eläimiin corresponds to “into the animals” or, in figurative uses, “toward topics involving animals.”

The form is most often seen in contexts where motion toward animals is described or when a noun phrase refers to topics, groups, or matters related to animals. It can also appear in compound phrases that denote a relationship or focus involving animals, for example in legal, scientific, or ecological terminology. In everyday language, you may encounter phrases such as eläimiin kohdistuva hoito (care directed at animals) or eläimiin liittyvät tutkimukset (studies related to animals).

In usage, eläimiin complements verbs of motion or phrases that require the illative case to indicate the target or domain. It is one example of how Finnish marks direction with cases, alongside other illative forms used with different nouns. The word eläin itself means an animal, while the plural eläimet refers to animals in the nominative.

See also: eläin, eläimet, illatiivi (illative case), suomalainen kieli (Finnish language)