Suojaan

Suojaan is the illative case form of the Finnish noun suoja, meaning shelter, protection, or safeguard. In Finnish grammar, the illative marks movement toward or into something, so suojaan translates roughly as “to shelter” or “into shelter.” It is commonly used with verbs of going or seeking shelter: for example, Mennään suojaan (Let’s go to shelter) or Hakeuduimme suojaan myrskyn tultua (We sought shelter when the storm began).

The base noun suoja denotes a place or measure that provides safety, such as a building, protective cover, or shield. The word is related to other forms such as suojaus (protection, shielding) and the verb suojella (to protect). The illative form suojaan is one of several Finnish case forms used to indicate movement toward a location; its corresponding forms include the inessive suojassa (in shelter) and the elative suojasta (from shelter).

Usage notes: Suoja is a common everyday noun; suojaan is a grammatical form of that noun, not a separate word with its own independent meaning. It appears in advisory or narrative contexts involving danger, weather events, or emergencies, and in idiomatic expressions calling for safety.

Etymology: The form is derived from the noun suoja with the illative suffix -an, a standard pattern for expressing motion toward a place in Finnish.