ajankohtaiseen

Ajankohtaiseen is a grammatical inflected form of the Finnish adjective ajankohtainen, meaning “current,” “timely,” or “topical.” It is not a stand-alone dictionary headword but the illative singular form used when the noun it modifies is in the illative case (into/onto). For example, in the phrases ajankohtaiseen kysymykseen (into a topical question), ajankohtaiseen tilanteeseen (into a current situation), or ajankohtaiseen keskusteluun (into a topical discussion).

Grammar and morphology: The base adjective ajankohtainen comes from ajankohta, meaning a moment or time, with the -inen suffix forming the descriptive adjective. To agree with a noun in different cases, Finnish adjectives decline similarly to nouns. The illative singular form of ajankohtainen is ajankohtaiseen, attaching the illative ending -iseen. Because Finnish adjectives agree with the noun they modify, ajankohtaiseen appears only when the overall noun phrase is in the illative.

Usage and nuance: Ajankohtaiseen conveys that something relates to the present period or is of current interest. It is commonly used in journalism, public discourse, and analysis to describe topics, issues, or events that are timely. In other cases, tā would use the base form ajankohtainen (e.g., ajankohtainen asia – a current matter) or its other inflected forms depending on case and number. The word is closely connected to ajankohta (time/opportunity) and to compounds formed with ajankohtais- as a prefix, such as ajankohtaisohjelma (current-events program).

See also: ajankohta, ajankohtainen, ajankohtais- compounds, current-events discourse.

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