Words ending with 'in'

These words are often some sort of tools or machines, and they are usually derived from a verb. Actually, a lot of times they are homonyms with the first person singular past: pakastin means both a freezer and I froze. The basic form of the verb is pakastaa.

These are the four important forms of avain:

• basic form avain: Kenen avain tämä on? - Whose key is this?
• genitive avaimen: Mihin mä olen laittanut mun avaimen? - Where have I put my key?
• partitive avainta: Et tarvitse avainta.- You won't need a key.
• plural partitive avaimia: Oletko nähnyt mun avaimia? - Have you seen my keys?

In plural form, the e disappears before the i.

• elative: Haluaisin teettää näistä avaimista lisäkappaleita. - I'd like to have extra copies made of these keys. 
• adessive: Mihin näillä avaimilla pääsee? - Where can you get with these keys?

Be aware of the possible consonant change:

• Minulla on uusi levysoitin! - I have a new record player!
• Mistä sinä ostit tuon levysoittimen? - Where did you buy that record player?
• Meillä ei ole levysoitinta. - We don't have a record player.
• Onko teillä levysoittimia? - Do you have record players?

You probably already know puhelin (a phone) and kirjain (a letter as in abc), but how about these ones?

Keittiössä - in the kitchen:

• pakastin, kahvinkeitin, leivänpaahdin, sauvasekoitin, sähkövatkain - a freezer,  a coffee maker,  a toaster, a stick blender / an immersion blender, an electric mixer

Toimistossa - in the office:

• teroitin, viivotin, rei'itin - a sharpener, a ruler, a hole punch (Notice the cool spelling with the apostrophe!)

Autossa - in the car:

• kytkin, kaasupoljin, varashälytin - a clutch, an accelerator pedal, a burglar alarm

The superlative forms of the adjectives also end with in, but that's another story and the declension follows a slightly different pattern. (Instead of in>ime, it's in>imma, in case you wonder.)

• huono: Tuo oli vuoden huonoin idea! - That was the worst idea of the year!
• kallis: Tämä oli kallein suklaarasia, minkä löysin Prismasta. - This was the most expensive box of chocolates that I found in Prisma.

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About the author of this blog:

My name is Hanna Männikkölahti, and I am a native Finn who gives private lessons via Skype and simplifies books into easy Finnish. Please leave a comment, if you have something to ask about Finnish or novels in easy Finnish.

Lue lisää selkokirjoistani: www.hannamannikkolahti.com

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