vaikeutta

Vaikeutta is the partitive singular form of the Finnish noun vaikeus, which translates to "difficulty" or "hardship" in English. The headword refers to a quality or situation that makes something difficult to do or causes obstacles. In ordinary language, vaikeutta is used when the amount of difficulty is indefinite or when the governing verb requires the partitive case.

The word is derived from the Finnish adjective vaikea, meaning "difficult." The noun vaikeus is formed with the abstract-noun suffix -us; the partitive singular ending -tta yields vaikeutta.

Usage examples illustrate its grammatical role. Minulla on vaikeutta ymmärtää tätä shows how the partitive is used after a verb to express having difficulty understanding something. In plural form, the partitive is vaikeuksia, as in Se toi minulle paljon vaikeuksia, meaning "It brought me a lot of difficulties." The term also appears in contexts discussing life, work, education, or mental and physical challenges, for instance elämän vaikeuksia ("life's difficulties") or opiskelussa on ollut vaikeuksia ("there have been difficulties in studying").

See also: vaikeus, vaikea, haaste.