Seuraavassa

Seuraavassa is a Finnish word that functions as the inessive singular form of the adjective seuraava, meaning “the following” or “next.” It is used to indicate that something appears later in the text or in a sequence.

Grammar and usage draw attention to how seuraavassa inflects with case and number. In practical phrases it appears with a noun in the inessive case, for example: seuraavassa kappaleessa (in the following paragraph). The form changes with other cases and numbers, producing variants such as seuraavan, seuraavaa, or seuraavissa depending on context. The word is also commonly used as a heading or label to introduce the content that follows, for example at the start of a section: Seuraavassa.

In formal Finnish writing, seuraavassa is frequent in manuals, guides, academic texts, and legal or official documents. It serves to direct the reader’s attention to material that will be presented next and helps structure logical flow. It is distinct from the adverb seuraavaksi, which denotes the next step in a sequence rather than a spatial or textual location.

Examples:

- Seuraavassa luvussa tarkastellaan taloudellista vaikutusta.

- Ohjeet ovat seuraavassa kappaleessa.

- Seuraavassa osiossa esitellään testitulokset.

Etymology: seuraava comes from the root related to following or coming after, with the adjectival suffix -ava to form “the following/next,” and the inflectional ending -ssa to express the inessive case. The form seuraavassa thus literally means “in the following” or “in the next.”

See also: seuraavaksi, edellinen, seuraava (noun/adjective).