turhista

Turhista is a Finnish grammatical form that functions within phrases rather than as a standalone noun. It is the elative plural form of the adjective turha, meaning useless or unnecessary. In practical use, turhista appears together with a noun in the -sta/-stä case to signal “about the useless things” or “from the useless things.”

In everyday Finnish, turhista is most commonly seen in expressions such as turhista asioista or turhista jutuista, which translate roughly to “about useless matters” or “about trifles.” The form is used to shift the topic toward topics regarded as trivial, unimportant, or without consequence. Because turha describes the quality of the noun it accompanies, turhista does not stand alone when conveying meaning; it modifies the following noun phrase.

Etymology and grammar: turha comes from Finnish turha, meaning useless or futile. The elative plural suffix -sta/-stä is attached to create turhista, which then combines with a noun in the corresponding case (for example, asioista) to form phrases that specify the scope of discussion or origin. This construction is common across registers and can appear in journalism, literature, and everyday speech.

See also: Finnish adjectives and case endings; discussing trifles; phrases with turha.