Material and property adjectives (-inen)

Forming Adjectives with -inen

Add the suffix -inen to a noun to turn it into an adjective. This is the most common way to describe what an object is made of.

  • muovi (plastic) → muovinen (made of plastic)
  • kulta (gold) → kultainen (golden)
  • lasi (glass) → lasinen (made of glass)
This ring is not plastic, but golden.
Tämä sormus ei ole muovinen, vaan kultainen.

Inflecting -inen Adjectives

Like all adjectives, those ending in -inen agree with the noun they modify in number and case. Before adding a case ending, the -inen suffix changes to the stem -ise-.

  • Genitive / Total Object: Add -n (-isen).
  • Plural Nominative: Add -t (-iset).
  • Plural Partitive: The suffix becomes -isia or -isiä.
The man carried the leather bag inside.
Mies kantoi nahkaisen laukun sisään.
These cotton sheets are soft.
Nämä puuvillaiset lakanat ovat pehmeät.
We do not buy plastic items.
Me emme osta muovisia tavaroita.

Everyday Materials

Common nouns like metalli (metal), silkki (silk), and kivi (stone) become adjectives this way.

Is that box metal or wooden?
Onko tuo laatikko metallinen vai puinen?
A silken scarf is a really expensive gift.
Silkkinen huivi on todella kallis lahja.
The stone wall is old and strong.
Kivinen muuri on vanha ja vahva.

Describing Physical Properties

The -inen suffix also describes environments or physical properties, such as lumi (snow) becoming luminen (snowy).

A snowy yard is always beautiful.
Luminen piha on aina kaunis.
We waited for the bus at the snowy stop.
Me odotimme bussia lumisella pysäkillä.