Viipaleisiin

Viipaleisiin is the illative plural form of the Finnish noun viipale, which means a slice, such as a slice of bread or meat. In Finnish, the illative case marks direction toward something, roughly translating to “to the slices” or “into the slices.” The plural form viipaleisiin is used when the action or state involves multiple slices as the destination or target.

Grammatically, viipaleisiin is formed by taking the stem viipale and adding the illative plural ending -isiin. This construction follows the general pattern of Finnish noun inflection, with the ending indicating both plurality and motion toward a place or object. The form appears in contexts where the speaker describes actions affecting several slices, such as distributing, placing, or modifying what is on or with multiple slices.

Usage notes indicate that the plural illative is less common in everyday speech than singular forms like viipaleeseen, but it appears in written language, including recipes, instructions, and descriptive prose, especially when referring to actions applied to multiple slices rather than to a single slice.

Examples can illustrate the sense of movement toward multiple slices: Leipäviipaleisiin siveltiin voita. (Butter was spread onto the slices of bread.) In this sentence, voita is applied to multiple bread slices, with viipaleisiin marking the destination of the action. Another example could involve distributing an ingredient or arranging something on several slices. The form is primarily encountered in formal or instructional contexts rather than casual spoken Finnish.

See also: viipale, viipaleeseen, illatiivi (illative) case, Finnish noun inflection.