syntymäpäivään

Syntymäpäivään is Finnish and constitutes the illative singular form of the noun syntymäpäivä, meaning birthday. It expresses movement toward or entry into a birthday event, such as a birthday party. In sentences it is used with verbs of going to or attending an event, for example: Mennään ystävän syntymäpäivään (We are going to a friend’s birthday) or Osallistuin syntymäpäivään (I attended the birthday).

Etymology and form: The word syntymäpäivä is a compound of syntymä (birth) and päivä (day). The illative ending that yields syntymäpäivään follows standard Finnish patterns for indicating motion into a place or event. Thus syntymäpäivään literally means “into the birthday,” i.e., to the birthday celebration.

Usage notes: Syntymäpäivään is primarily a formal or neutral grammatical form used to describe attending or moving toward a birthday event. In everyday spoken Finnish, speakers commonly use synttäreille, which is a more colloquial and frequent way to say “to the birthday party.” The illative form may be preferred in written language, official announcements, or contexts requiring explicit grammatical case.

See also: Related forms include syntymäpäivä (nominative, the birthday), syntymäpäivän (genitive, the birthday’s), and other case forms such as syntymäpäivässä or syntymäpäivästä for non-illative meanings.