epäluotettaviin

Epäluotettaviin is a Finnish grammatical form corresponding to the illative plural of the adjective epäluotettava, meaning untrustworthy or unreliable. The base adjective epäluotettava describes something or someone as not trustworthy, and kuten use in Finnish, it inflects to agree with the noun it modifies. Epäluotettaviin specifically marks a plural noun in the illative case, often translated as “to unreliable sources” or “to unreliable ones” depending on the context.

Morphology and usage

In Finnish, adjectives decline to match number and case with the noun they modify. The illative plural ending is -iin, so the stem epäluotettav- combines with -iin to form epäluotettaviin. This form is used when the sentence involves movement toward or reference to a set of plural items in the illative case, such as sources, claims, or arguments. For example, epäluotettaviin lähteisiin means “to unreliable sources,” and epäluotettaviin väittämiin means “to unreliable claims.” The form can appear in sentences with verbs that govern illative objects or with prepositions that take illative complements.

Context and nuance

The term carries evaluative content, signaling a negative judgment about the reliability of the described nouns. While it is a neutral descriptive form in grammatical sense, its usage often reflects critical or cautious discourse, such as journalism, research, or argumentation, where the reliability of sources or statements is under scrutiny.

Related forms

Epäluotettava is the base singular adjective; epäluotettavia is partitive or accusative plural, depending on context; epäluotettavuus refers to the quality or state of unreliability. The term is commonly encountered in discussions about sourcing, evidence, and credibility in Finnish texts.