onnettomuuteen

Onnettomuuteen is the illative form of the Finnish noun onnettomuus, which means accident or misfortune. The illative case marks movement toward or entry into something, or a state resulting from such movement. In practice, onnettomuuteen is used to express “into an accident” or “into trouble,” often in the sense of becoming involved in an accident.

In ordinary language, onnettomuuteen appears most often with verbs that describe entering a situation or ending up in one. The most common construction is joutua onnettomuuteen, meaning to end up in or be involved in an accident. Other verbs that may take the illative with this meaning include mennä onnettomuuteen or ajautua onnettomuuteen, though their exact usage can vary by region and context. The form is also used in reporting and factual descriptions to specify that an event occurred resulting in an accident.

Examples:

- Hän joutui onnettomuuteen auto-onnettomuuden seurauksena. (He ended up in an accident following a car collision.)

- Auto ajautui onnettomuuteen törmäyksen jälkeen. (The car drifted into an accident after the collision.)

- He osallistuivat onnettomuuteen ja tarvitsevat hoitoa. (They were involved in an accident and require care.)

Etymology and meaning notes:

The word onnettomuus is built from the root onni (luck) with derivational suffixes that form a noun referring to misfortune or calamity. The illative onnettomuuteen is a grammatical form rather than a separate lexical item, used to express “into an accident” within sentences describing involvement, movement toward, or entry into such an event.