Minuuttien

Minuuttien is the genitive plural form of the Finnish noun minuutti, meaning minute. In Finnish, the genitive plural ending -ien is used when the noun is possessed or described in a quantity with another word, or when it is part of a noun phrase that expresses “of minutes” or “minutes’.” The corresponding forms in the same paradigm are minuutti (singular), minuutin (genitive singular), minuuttien (genitive plural), minuuttia (partitive plural), and minuutit or minuutteja (nominative and partitive in other cases). The genitive plural minuuttien does not denote a separate unit; it is a grammatical form that allows minutes to be referenced within larger expressions.

Common uses include phrases such as minuuttien määrä (the number of minutes), useiden minuuttien ajan (for several minutes), and minuuttien säästäminen (saving minutes). In timekeeping and scheduling, the form often appears after numerals or other determiners that require genitive plural, for example in expressions describing durations or quantities of time. For a single minute, the genitive singular minuutin is used, as in viiden minuutin kuluttua (after five minutes).

The form is standard in both written and spoken Finnish and is part of everyday language when discussing time, durations, or the relative amount of time in various contexts. Understanding minuuttien helps grasp how Finnish expresses possession, quantity, and measurement within noun phrases without relying on a separate plural marker for countable units.