Kirjeen

Kirjeen is the genitive singular form of the Finnish noun kirje, which means “letter.” It is used to indicate possession or association with a letter, as in kirjeen sisältö (“the contents of the letter”) or kirjeen kirjoittaminen (“the writing of a letter”).

In Finnish, genitive forms signal ownership or relation rather than using a separate possessive marker. Kirjeen can form phrases and compounds such as kirjeen lähettäminen (the sending of a letter) or kirjeen vastaanottaminen (the receiving of a letter). The genitive singular is commonly found in everyday language, official texts, and written correspondence.

Morphology: The base form is kirje. The nominative plural is kirjeet, the genitive singular is kirjeen, and the genitive plural is kirjeiden. The partitive singular is kirjettä, and the partitive plural is kirjeitä. Finnish nouns decline across cases and numbers, so kirjeen appears in contexts requiring possession or association with one letter.

Usage and examples: Kirjeen sisältö on salainen in certain contexts refers to the contents of a letter being confidential. Kirjeen kirjoittaminen on aikaa vievää highlights the act of composing a letter. In archival or postal contexts, kirjeen historia may refer to the history of a particular letter.

Origin: kirje is a native Finnish term for “letter.” Its exact historical origins are not fully settled, but it has long been established in Finnish vocabulary and follows standard Finnish inflection patterns.

See also: kirje; kirjeenvaihto.