Elävä

Elävää is a Finnish word that functions as the partitive singular form of the adjective elävä, which means living or alive. The base form elävä is used to describe someone or something that has life, and it derives from the verb elää, “to live.” In Finnish, adjectives decline to reflect case and number, so elävä appears as elävä in the nominative singular and as elävää in the partitive singular, among other forms.

In everyday use, elävä is employed to describe living beings, plants, or anything with life, and it is commonly found in biology, storytelling, and descriptive language. The present participle sense of elävä can convey ongoing vitality, and the adjective can also be used metaphorically to evoke liveliness or vitality.

Common examples:

- Elävä ihminen. (A living person.)

- Elävä olento. (A living creature.)

- En näe elävää ihmistä. (I do not see a living person.)

Elävä contrasts with kuollut, meaning dead, and both terms are used to describe the state of life in a straightforward, factual manner. The form elävää, specifically, appears in constructions involving partitive case, often in negative sentences or when the object is indefinite.

Etymology and related forms:

- Root: elää (to live)

- Related forms include elävä (nominative singular), elävään/eläväänsä (other cases), elävät (nominative plural), and elävien (genitive plural), with the partitive elävää used in appropriate contexts.

See also: Finnish grammar, adjectives, participles, elää.