Merkittäviä

Merkittäviä is a Finnish adjective meaning notable or significant. It is used to describe people, events, findings, or objects that stand out because of their importance, impact, or distinctiveness. In neutral and formal writing, merkittäviä signals that something has considerable relevance, without asserting value beyond its significance.

Etymology and form: Merkittävä is derived from merkki “sign, mark” with the derivational pattern -ttävä. Merkittäviä is the plural form used with plural nouns, especially in the partitive case, as in merkittäviä saavutuksia (“notable achievements”) or merkittäviä tapahtumia (“notable events”). The word agrees with the noun in number and case, so other inflected forms appear in different grammatical contexts.

Usage and nuance: Merkittäviä is common in journalism, reports, academic writing, and public discourse. It is descriptive rather than evaluative; context usually clarifies whether the significance is historical, scientific, social, or practical. It can pair with nouns referring to differences, impacts, or milestones: merkittäviä eroja, merkittäviä vaikutuksia, merkittäviä päätöksiä.

Notes: As a general-purpose descriptor, merkittäviä has broad applicability across domains and does not inherently carry a positive or negative valence; tone is shaped by the surrounding text and the specific noun it modifies.