Nälässä

Nälässä is the inessive singular form of the Finnish noun nälkä, meaning “hunger.” It denotes a state of being hungry or experiencing hunger. In everyday Finnish, people typically say minulla on nälkä (“I have hunger” or “I’m hungry”). The form nälässä is more common in literary, descriptive, or formal contexts and is often used to discuss ongoing conditions, such as “nälässä olevat” people or “nälässä eläminen” (living in hunger). The expression can also appear in discussions of famine, poverty, or humanitarian crises to emphasize deprivation rather than a momentary sensation.

Etymology and form: Nälässä is formed by taking the noun nälkä and adding the inessive suffix -ssä, which marks “in” or “inside” a state or condition.

Usage notes: While minulla on nälkä remains the standard everyday way to express that one is hungry, nälässä appears in more formal, literary, or argumentative contexts. It is also used in compound phrases to describe broader situations of deprivation, such as people being “in hunger” or societies “in hunger.”

Examples:

Finnish: Nälässä olevat ihmiset tarvitsevat välitöntä apua.

English: People who are in hunger need immediate aid.

Finnish: Nälässä eläminen voi johtaa aliravitsemukseen.

English: Living in hunger can lead to malnutrition.

Related terms: nälkä (hunger), nälkäinen (hungry), nälänhätä (famine).