Hetkellisiä

Hetkellisiä is the partitive plural form of the Finnish adjective hetkellinen, meaning momentary or ephemeral. It is used to describe plural nouns in the partitive case, typically to express that the referenced items are brief, intermittent, or not lasting for long.

Morphology and usage

Hetkellinen derives from the root hetki (moment) with the suffix -ellinen, which yields an adjective meaning characterized by or related to a moment. In Finnish, adjectives agree with the noun they modify; when the head noun is plural and in the partitive case, the adjective takes the form -ellisiä (example: hetkellisiä kokemuksia). This form contrasts with the nominative plural hetkelliset or the partitive singular hetkellistä.

Semantic nuance

Hetkellisiä emphasizes brevity or fleeting character more than a simple temporary state. It can describe events, experiences, or phenomena that occur for only a short time or appear intermittently, rather than continuously.

Examples

- hetkellisiä kokemuksia (some momentary experiences)

- hetkellisiä tilanteita (momentary situations)

- kuvan hetkellisiä valonväläyksiä (moments of fleeting light flashes in the picture)

Related terms

Common related adjectives include hetkellinen (momentary, temporary) and väliaikainen (temporary in a broader sense). The choice between these often depends on whether the emphasis is on fleeting duration (hetkellinen) or a more general temporary nature (väliaikainen).

See also

Finnish grammar: adjectives, partitive case, and noun–adjective agreement.