Lievempiä

Lievempiä is a Finnish adjective form that functions as the plural partitive of the comparative adjective lievempi, meaning more lenient or milder. It is used to describe a plural noun in the partitive case, for example lievempiä rangaistuksia (“more lenient punishments”) or lievempiä toimenpiteitä (“milder measures”).

Grammatically, lievempiä derives from the base adjective lievä (mild, lenient) with the comparative suffix -mpi to form lievempi (more lenient). When the adjective modifies a plural noun in partitive, the ending becomes -ä and the word appears as lievempiä. Finnish adjectives do not show gender, so lievempiä is used regardless of gender or person, simply matching the number and case of the noun it modifies.

Usage often appears in legal, political, or policy contexts where milder severity or less strict measures are being discussed. It conveys a comparative degree of leniency rather than a positive judgment about quality, and it can appear in formal and informal registers alike.

Examples:

- Hallitus ehdotti lievempiä rangaistuksia. (The government proposed milder punishments.)

- Oikeudenkäynnissä haettiin lievempiä seuraamuksia. (In the trial, they sought milder consequences.)

- Yrityksen politiikka siirtyi lievempiä toimenpiteitä koskeviin ohjeistuksiin. (The company’s policy shifted toward milder measures.)

Lievempiä is part of Finnish comparative and case-inflection patterns and relates to the positive lievä and the comparative lievempi, as well as broader Finnish grammar topics such as partitive plural adjectives.