ensimmäinen

Ensimmäinen is the Finnish ordinal numeral meaning the first in a sequence. It is used to indicate position and to modify nouns, as in ensimmäinen kerta (the first time) or ensimmäinen päivä (the first day). It can also stand as a determiner before a noun in formal contexts, and it is the standard form for most written uses, including official or academic language.

In grammar, ensimmäinen behaves like other Finnish adjectives and inflects for number and case to agree with the noun it modifies. The dictionary form is ensimmäinen. Common case forms include: genitive singular ensimmäisen, partitive singular ensimmäistä, nominative plural ensimmäiset, partitive plural ensimmäisiä, genitive plural ensimmäisten. Beyond these, the stem combines with typical case endings for illative, inessive, allative, and other cases (for example ensimmäiseen, ensimmäisessä, ensimmäiselle, ensimmäisillä, etc.).

Usage notes: ensimmäinen is the standard choice in formal writing and most contexts when counting or ranking items. In everyday speech, speakers sometimes use colloquial alternatives such as eka or ekat, which are shorter and less formal. The term is also used in historical or formal references to events (for example, ensimmäinen maailmansota, the First World War).

See also: toinen, kolmas, neljäs. These are the other Finnish ordinal numerals used to express subsequent positions in a sequence.