Hedelmä

Hedelmää is the partitive singular form of hedelmä, the Finnish word for fruit. Hedelmä refers to the edible fruit of a plant and is used in everyday language to denote fruits in general, such as apples, bananas, berries, and other edible produce. In botanical terms, it denotes the fleshy fruit that develops from the ovary of flowering plants.

In Finnish grammar, hedelmää functions as the partitive singular. The partitive case is used to express an indefinite quantity or portion and after certain verbs that do not require a definite object. For example, you might say, Osta vähän hedelmää (Buy a little fruit) or Paljon hedelmää on tarjolla (There is a lot of fruit available). The word changes form in other cases and numbers: hedelmä is the nominative singular, hedelmän is the genitive singular, hedelmät is the nominative plural, and hedelmiä is the partitive plural.

Usage notes: when referring to multiple fruits or portions, speakers typically use hedelmiä or hedelmät, depending on whether the context is partitive or nominative. The form hedelmää emphasizes a non-specific amount rather than counting individual fruits. The term remains common in everyday language, cooking, and grocery contexts, while more precise botanical terms may be preferred in formal discussions. See also hedelmä for the base noun and related inflected forms.