määrättömään

Määrättömään is a Finnish grammatical form derived from the adjective määrättömä, meaning indefinite, without definite limits, or immeasurable. The word is formed with the illative case ending, which in Finnish marks direction toward a state or condition. Thus määrättömään is the illative singular used when describing entering or moving into an indefinite state or quality.

Usage and meaning

The illative form is primarily a grammatical tool rather than a commonly used standalone word in everyday speech. Määrättömään describes a state that is indefinite or lacking specific boundaries, and it is typically found in more formal, literary, or technical language. In many colloquial contexts, speakers may instead use the adverbial form määrättömästi (indefinitely) or employ other constructions to convey indefiniteness.

Examples

- Hän siirtyi määrättömään tilaan. (He moved into an indefinite state.)

- Tutkimus voidaan pitää määrättömään tapaan. (The study can be conducted in an indefinite manner.)

Relationship to related forms

Määrättömään is one inflected form of the adjective määrättömä. Finnish adjectives decline by case and number, so other forms exist for different grammatical contexts (for example, genitive, partitive, or inessive forms). The broader concept of indefiniteness in Finnish is often expressed with the related noun määrättömyys (indefiniteness) or with adverbs such as määrättömästi.

See also

Finnish grammar, illative case, adjectives, indefiniteness.