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Haluan tutustua paikallisiin ihmisiin.

Haluan tutustua paikallisiin ihmisiin.
I want to get to know local people.
From Lesson 129:Verbs requiring the illative case (mihin)·Finnish

Breakdown of Haluan tutustua paikallisiin ihmisiin.

ihminen
human
haluta
to want
paikallinen
local
tutustua
to get to know

Questions & Answers about Haluan tutustua paikallisiin ihmisiin.

Why do paikallisiin and ihmisiin end in -iin?
This is because of the verb tutustua (to get to know). In Finnish, this verb requires the target you are getting to know to be in the illative ("into") case. Because you are talking about multiple people, these words are in the plural illative case.
How do the dictionary words paikallinen and ihminen change into these long forms?
Words ending in -nen change their ending to -se- when adding most endings, and in the plural this stem becomes -si-. To make the plural illative, you add the ending -in to that plural stem, which gives us paikallisiin and ihmisiin.
Doesn't the illative case normally mean physical movement "into" something?
Yes, but Finnish also uses it for abstract movement or arriving at a result. Think of tutustua as mentally "moving into familiarity" with someone. Many verbs about focusing on, getting used to, or getting to know things share this illative rule.
Why doesn't tutustua have a personal ending like haluan does?
It follows the verb haluan (I want). Just like in English ("I want to get to know"), the first verb is conjugated to match the speaker (minä haluan), and the second verb stays in its basic infinitive form.

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