Älykkään

älykkään is the genitive singular form of the Finnish adjective älykäs, meaning intelligent or clever. It is used in phrases where the adjective describes a noun in the genitive case, typically to express possession or a relational quality, as in älykkään ihmisen mielipide (“the intelligent person’s opinion”).

In Finnish, adjectives inflect to agree with the noun they modify in number and case. The genitive singular form of älykäs is älykkään, which appears before a genitive noun, for example: älykkään opiskelijan arkea kuvaava tutkimus (“a study illustrating the daily life of the intelligent student”). The base nominative form is älykäs, and the corresponding genitive plural and other cases follow the standard Finnish adjective declension rules.

Etymology and meaning: älykäs derives from the root åly- related to intelligence, with a derivational suffix that forms an adjective describing someone or something possessing intelligence. The word is widely used in everyday Finnish to describe people, ideas, devices, and actions that demonstrate cleverness or sound reasoning.

Usage notes: älykkään is common in written and formal Finnish, especially in constructions that require a genitive relationship. In ordinary speech, speakers often place the noun with the adjective in the nominative or use the short form älykäs before a noun (e.g., älykäs ihminen) rather than relying on the genitive form. When referring to groups or multiple items, corresponding plural forms of the adjective are used.

See also: Finnish grammar, Finnish adjectives, genitive case in Finnish.