vaikeisiin

Vaikeisiin is a Finnish grammatical form that appears as the illative plural of the adjective meaning difficult or hard. It is not a standalone noun; rather, it functions as an adjective form that accompanies a noun in the illative case, indicating direction toward something that is considered difficult.

In Finnish, the illative case marks movement toward or into something. When the following noun is plural and in illative, the preceding adjective takes the illative plural ending: for example, vaikeisiin tehtäviin (into difficult tasks) or vaikeisiin tilanteisiin (into difficult situations). The form helps convey phrases like “preparing for difficult tasks” or “having to deal with difficult situations.”

Etymology: the adjective behind the form is based on the root meaning “difficult” and is related to the noun vaikenen or vaiva? in everyday Finnish, the common descriptor is tietenkin vaikea/vaikeat, with the illative plural appearing as vaikeisiin in compounds.

Usage notes: vaikeisiin is widely used in everyday language when describing multiple challenging objects, tasks, or scenarios in a directional sense (illative). It often appears in expressions with verbs that govern illative objects, such as joutua, valmistautua, or kohdata.

See also: Finnish grammar, Illative case, Adjectives in Finnish, Vaikeus (noun meaning difficulty).