Heidät

Heidät is a Finnish personal pronoun form used to refer to a third-person plural group as a direct object. It is the accusative plural form of the pronoun he (they) and is used when the group is the target of an action in affirmative statements.

In Finnish, pronouns decline by case. The subject form of the same pronoun is he, while the possessive form for “their” is heidän. The form heidät specifically marks the object of a verb in the definite accusative sense. A closely related form is heidän (their) in the genitive, and heitä is the partitive plural form used in negative clauses or with indefinite quantities.

A common point of confusion is the distinction between heidät and heitä. Heidät is typically used for definite direct objects in affirmative clauses (Näin heidät. I saw them.). Heitä is the partitive plural form and appears in negative sentences or when the object is indefinite (En nähnyt heitä. I did not see them).

Examples:

- Näen heidät kaupungilla. I see them in the city.

- En näe heitä. I do not see them.

Etymology and related forms:

The form derives from the third-person plural pronoun he, with the accusative plural ending. Related forms include he, heitä, heidät, and the possessive heidän (their). The language distinction between the accusative and partitive forms is a key feature of Finnish pronoun usage in everyday speech.