Kielteinen

Kielteinen is a Finnish adjective meaning negative, disapproving, or denying. It describes things that express negation, objection, or refusal, and can refer to statements, attitudes, or results. The term is closely related to words such as kielto (ban), kieltäytyä (to refuse), and kielteinen (negative in various senses). The form derives from the same semantic field as kieltäminen and kielto, with the common Finnish -teinen suffix used to form adjectives that denote a characteristic.

In grammar and linguistics, kielteinen is used to label negation or non-positivity. A kielteinen lause is a negative clause, typically built with the negation particle ei, which appears as ei, en, et, emme, ette, or eivät depending on the subject and tense. Examples: Minä en syö. (I do not eat.) Hän ei tule. (He/she does not come.) Such clauses contrast with myönteinen (positive) clauses.

Morphology and usage: kielteinen agrees with the noun it modifies in number and case. Common forms include nominative singular kielteinen, genitive kielteisen, partitive kielteistä, and nominative plural kielteiset (with corresponding other-case endings). An adverbial form exists as kielteisesti, used to express negation or negatively described actions, such as kielteisesti arvioida (to assess negatively).

Common contexts for the term include everyday language describing a negative response, a kielteinen väite (negative/denial claim), or a policy described as kielteinen. Related terms include myönteinen (positive), negatiivinen (negative in a broader, often scientific sense), and kieltäytyä (to refuse).

See also: negation, myönteinen, kielto, kieltäytyä.