hätään

Hätään is the illative singular form of the Finnish noun hätä, meaning a state of distress, danger, or emergency. In Finnish grammar, the illative case expresses movement into or entering a state or place, so hätään can be understood as “into trouble” or “into a state of need.”

Usage and meaning. Hätään is used in constructions that describe entering or falling into a troublesome or emergency situation. Common collocations include phrases such as “joutua hätään” (to end up in trouble) and, less commonly, “päätyä hätään” or “ajautua hätään.” Because hätään denotes a state rather than a concrete location, it typically occurs with verbs of entering or becoming rather than with simple motion verbs. In everyday speech, speakers may prefer synonyms like vaikeuksiin or pulaan, depending on tone and register.

Related forms and terms. The base noun is hätä. Related terms include hätätila (state of emergency), hätänumero (emergency number), and hätäapu (emergency aid). The illative form hätään is part of a broader system of Finnish case endings that express direction into states or places.

Usage notes. Hätä and its illative hätään are common in written Finnish, especially in formal or descriptive contexts. In more colloquial language, speakers often describe distress or danger using other expressions or variants depending on the specific situation and register.