havaintoihin

Havaintoihin is the illative plural form of the Finnish noun havainto, meaning observations or findings. In Finnish, illative forms express movement toward or reference to something, and the plural form havaintoihin is used when speaking of multiple observations or findings rather than a single one.

Usage and sense

The expression is common in scientific, academic, and journalistic contexts. It is used with verbs that require or allow illative objects, such as viitata havaintoihin (to refer to observations), perustua havaintoihin (to be based on observations), or ottaa havaintoihin huomioon (to take observations into account). Havaintoihin can denote the content, data, or evidence provided by several observations rather than a single instance.

Distinctions

Havaintoihin differs from havaintoihin’s singular counterpart havaintoon (to an observation) and from havaintoja (observations in the partitive, often used when referring to some or unspecified observations). The genitive form is havaintojen, and the plural partitive is havaintoja. The illative plural form is typically used when the sentence centers on the observations as the basis or object of discussion.

Etymology

Havainto derives from the verb havaita, meaning to perceive or notice. The noun form is extended with a nominalizing suffix, and the illative plural suffix attaches to indicate direction toward multiple observations. The phrasing remains standard Finnish usage in formal prose.

See also

Finnish grammar of illative case and other forms of havainto.