paluussa

Paluussa is a Finnish word meaning “in the return” or “on the way back.” It is the inessive form of the noun paluu, which means return. The suffix -ssa marks a location or state, so paluussa describes something that is currently in the process of returning or in a state related to a return journey.

In practical use, paluussa describes travel or movement that is ongoing toward a return. It is commonly found in contexts such as transportation, logistics, or everyday speech when referring to someone or something that is returning. It is most often used predicatively, for example: laiva on paluussa, meaning “the ship is on its return.” It can also appear in clauses that describe a subject as paluussa to indicate that they are returning at that moment.

Paluu is the base noun meaning “return.” Paluussa is one grammatical form among the various inflections used with paluu to express different cases and relationships. Like other inessive forms, paluussa is primarily a grammatical tool used to convey state or location rather than a separate concept or proper noun.

See also: paluu (return), Finnish grammar, inessive case.