This article deals with the words eri, erilainen, erikoinen and erityinen. They all means “special” or “different”, but are used in slightly different situations. Below, you can find out more about how each of these words is used.

1. Eri and erilainen

Both eri and erilainen can be translated as “different”. However, there is a difference in meaning as well as a difference in inflection between the two. The adjective erilainen means “different, not the same”, while eri means “different, separate”. Consider the following examples:

When you say he asuvat eri maissa, you mean that one person lives in e.g. North-Korea and the other in Finland. The sentence he asuvat erilaisissa maissa also implies that there are two countries, but we’re focusing on the ways the countries differ from each other. Someone living in North-Korea is living in a country with very little freedom, while someone living in Finland is much more free. With erilainen we’re focusing on the difference between the countries.

The phrase varasin eri huoneet implies that I reserved a room for me, as well as a separate room for someone else. In contrast, varasin erilaiset huoneet implies that there are many different kinds of rooms that can be reserved. It’s not about having separate rooms, but rather about having rooms that e.g. have a different color, lay-out or price.

When saying se on eri asia, you are expressing that two things are not connected; that they are completely separate issues. Meanwhile se on erilainen asia expresses that something is a different kind of issue, it differs in its contents or something.

2. Erikoinen

Erikoinen can be translated as “special”. It conveys the meaning that something differs from the norm, isn’t normal, has some quality about them that’s exceptional, unusual of peculiar. If something or someone is erikoinen, this can draw attention to them.

3. Erityinen

Erityinen can also usually be translated as “special”. It’s usually used to express that something is specifically organized or meant for something (like special education).

Rather than as a regular adjective, you’re likely to run into erityinen as an adverb: erityisesti “especially”. You’ll also find it regularly in the genitive modifying another adjective (e.g. erityisen vaikeaa “especially hard”, erityisen kaunis “particularly beautiful”).

4. Compound Words with Erityis- and Erikois-

It is sometimes possible to explain the difference between compound words starting with erityis- and erikois- side by side. However, often the difference is small, or the two words are used as synonyms. Erikoisruokavalio and erityisruokavalio are, for example, often both used to mean a special diet.

For some other words, however, only one of the two is used.

That’s all for eri, erilainen, erikoinen and erityinen in this article! It’s pretty tricky, but you’ll get the hang of them over time.