vastaus

Vastaus is a Finnish noun meaning "answer" or "response." It refers to an answer given to a question, a reply in conversation, or a result provided in problem solving. The term is common in everyday speech, education, media, and computing, and it can denote both a spoken reply and a written or formal solution.

Etymology: The word is derived from the verb vastata ("to answer") with the noun-forming suffix -us, yielding a noun that denotes the act or product of answering. It is cognate with Estonian vastus ("answer") and has parallel forms in other Finnic languages.

Declension: In singular, nominative is vastaus; genitive vastauksen; partitive vastausta. In plural, nominative vastaukset; genitive vastausten; partitive vastauksia. Other common cases include inessive vastauksessa ("in the answer"), illative vastaukseen ("into the answer"), and adessive vastauksella ("on the answer").

Usage: The noun occurs in questions such as "Mikä on vastauksesi?" ("What is your answer?") and in statements like "Täytyy löytää oikea vastaus" ("One must find the correct answer"). It forms compounds such as vastausvaihtoehto ("answer option") and vastaukseni ("my answer"). In computing, vastaus is also used to mean "response" or "reply," as in API responses.

See also: vastata, vastausvaihtoehto, vastauksia.