Yhtenäistä

Yhtenäistä is the partitive singular form of the Finnish adjective yhtenäinen, meaning unified, cohesive, or uniform. The word is used to describe a quality that appears consistently across a set of elements, conditions, or observations. It is common in formal or analytical writing, including science, design, urban planning, sociology, and journalism.

As with other Finnish adjectives, yhtenäinen declines to agree in case and number with the noun it modifies. The form yhtenäistä is the partitive singular, used when the modified noun is in partitive or refers to an indefinite or non-countable quantity. Examples include yhtenäistä rakennetta (a uniform structure), yhtenäistä ilmettä (a cohesive appearance), and yhtenäistä kehitystä (a uniform development). In nominative or other cases you would use forms such as yhtenäiset rakennukset (uniform buildings) or yhtenäinen ilme (a coherent appearance).

Etymology and nuance: the word derives from yhtenä, meaning “as one” or “in unison,” with the adjectival suffix -inen. It is related to, yet distinct from, yhteinen (common) and koherentti (coherent, borrowed in some technical contexts). Yhtenäistä conveys a sense of internal consistency or cohesion across a domain, rather than mere sameness. It tends to appear in evaluative or descriptive contexts and is less common in everyday colloquial Finnish.

See also: yhteinen, koherentti, homogeeninen.