Haarukoissa

Haarukoissa is the inessive plural form of the Finnish noun haarukka, meaning fork. It is used to indicate location within or among several forks, typically referring to utensils in a place such as a kitchen, dining table, or utensil drawer. The form appears in ordinary speech and writing when describing forks collectively.

Morphology and grammar: The base noun is haarukka. In plural nominative it becomes haarukat. To form the inessive plural, the -ssa suffix is added to the plural stem, producing haarukoissa. The corresponding singular inessive is haarukassa (in the fork). This pattern—plural stem plus -ssa—follows standard Finnish inflection for inessive plural nouns.

Usage examples: Haarukoissa on ruokaa. (There is food in the forks.) This usage is literal, referring to multiple forks containing food or having residue. Haarukoissa can also appear in descriptions of a scene, such as “Keittiössä kaikki haarukoissa ovat pöydällä” or more naturally within a context discussing table settings or utensil storage.

Notes: Haarukka is a common Finnish utensil term, and haarukka-related forms follow regular Finnish inflection. While the word primarily describes physical forks, the inessive plural form Haarukoissa is used only when referencing forks in plural rather than a single fork. Etymology of haarukka is not always discussed in everyday usage; it is a standard Finnish noun, with no special meaning beyond the utensil. See also haarukka, haarukat, haarukassa, haarukoissa for related forms.