Epätavallisiin

Epätavallisiin is a Finnish word form derived from the adjective epätavallinen, meaning unusual or out of the ordinary. Specifically, epätavallisiin is the illative plural form of the adjective and is used with plural nouns in the illative case to express movement toward or entry into unusual things, situations, or phenomena. In English, it would correspond to phrases like “into unusual …” when the accompanying noun is plural.

Usage and examples

Epätavallisiin is used when describing multiple objects or concepts in an illative context. For example, Hän päätyi epätavallisiin tilanteisiin means “He ended up in unusual situations.” Another example is Hän valmistautui epätavallisiin kokeisiin, meaning “He prepared for unusual exams.” The form thus combines the meaning of the base adjective with the grammatical function of the illative plural, aligning with other adjectives that modify plural nouns in illative.

Grammatical notes

Epätavallisiin is one of the many inflected forms of epätavallinen. The base form epätavallinen means not ordinary or unconventional. Finnish adjectives decline to agree with the noun they modify in number and case, so epätavallinen has different endings for singular and plural, and for various cases. Epätavallisiin specifically signals a plural illative use.

Etymology

The word is built from epätavallinen (not ordinary, unusual) with the standard Finnish adjective inflection pattern, including the negative prefix e- and the root tavallinen, meaning ordinary.

See also

Epätavallinen, epätavallisuus, Finnish adjective declension, illative case.