tavallisin

Tavallisin is a Finnish adjective and the superlative form of tavallinen, meaning the most common or the ordinary. It is used to describe the typical, standard, or prevailing example within a group.

Usage and grammar: Tavallisin can be used both attributively and predicatively. It inflects for number and case like other Finnish adjectives. Examples include: “Tavallisin väri on musta” (The most common color is black) or “Tämä on tavallisin ratkaisu” (This is the most common solution). In the plural, the form becomes tavallisimmat, as in “Tavallisimmat värit ovat mustia ja sinisiä.” The word adapts to different cases in the same way as other adjectives, for instance in genitive or partitive forms.

Etymology and related terms: Tavallisin derives from tavallinen, which comes from the concept of custom or habit (tapa) with the -llinen suffix indicating a property. The superlative suffix -in forms tavallisin. Related Finnish terms include yleisin (most common) and tavanomainen (conventional, commonplace), which are used in closely related contexts.