Minkälaatuisia

Minkälaatuisia is a Finnish interrogative adjective form used to ask about the kind or quality of multiple items. It is the plural partitive form of the adjective minkälaatuinen, which means “what kind of” or “what sort of.” In a sentence it accompanies a plural noun in the partitive case, for example kirjoja (books) or elokuvia (films).

In usage, minkälaisia is employed when asking about several items and focusing on their characteristics or type. It typically appears in questions or in clauses that describe what kind of things are being referred to. The form changes with the case and number of the noun it describes: in nominative plural you would use minkälaiset (for example, Minkälaiset autot ovat lyhyesti sanottuna? “What kind of cars are they?”), while in other cases you use the corresponding partitive or possessive forms.

Examples:

- Minkälaisia kirjoja sinulla on? (What kinds of books do you have?)

- Minkälaisia autoja he ostivat? (What kinds of cars did they buy?)

- Minkälaiset ihmiset asuvat tässä naapurustossa? (What kind of people live in this neighborhood?)

Notes:

- Minkälaisia is specifically partitive plural, used with indefinite or non-subject nouns in many questions.

- The parallel nominative plural form is minkälaiset, used when the subject of the clause is in plural.

Overall, minkälaatuisia is a standard Finnish tool for asking about the variety or quality of multiple items, fitting into the broader family of what-kind-of questions in Finnish grammar.