Kehittyneempien

Kehittyneempien is a Finnish grammatical form used to express a relative comparison meaning “of the more developed” or “the more advanced” when describing a plural noun in the genitive case. It is the genitive plural form of the comparative adjective kehittyneempi, which derives from kehittynyt or kehittää and refers to a higher level of development or advancement. In sentences, kehittyneempien typically modifies a plural noun in genitive, for example kehittyneempien maiden koulutustasot, meaning the education levels of the more developed countries.

Morphology and formation: The base adjective kehittyneempi is formed from the stem associated with kehittynyt/kehittää, using the common Finnish comparative suffix -neempi. When the adjective governs a plural noun in genitive, the adjective takes the genitive plural ending -ien, resulting in kehittyneempien. This form signals that the comparison applies across a group rather than to a single entity. In other grammatical contexts, the related forms would change to match the case and number of the noun they modify (for example, kehittyneempi maiden in other cases).

Usage: kehittyneempien is predominantly found in written Finnish, especially in academic, policy, or journalistic prose that compares groups such as regions, countries, or institutions. It should be used when the referent is plural and in a genitive construction, conveying a relative degree of development without making absolute judgments about individual entities.

See also: kehittyneempi, kehittyneisyys, Finnish grammar, comparative forms.