Nimiä

Nimiä is the partitive plural form of the Finnish noun nimi, which means "names." In Finnish, nouns are declined for number and case, and nimi refers to a name or a set of names. The word can denote names in general or refer to an unspecified or indefinite number of names.

Inflection and forms

The base noun nimi has several common forms: nominative singular is nimi; partitive singular is nimeä; genitive singular is nimen. In the plural, nominative is nimet, genitive plural is nimien, and partitive plural is nimiä. The form nimiä is specifically the plural partitive, used when the quantity of names is indefinite or non-specific.

Usage

Nimiä is used when talking about multiple names in an indefinite sense, often with determiners that signal plurality or indefiniteness, such as useita nimiä (several names) or joitakin nimiä (some names). When a specific number is stated, Finnish generally uses the partitive singular after numerals, as in kolme nimeä (three names).

Examples

Useita nimiä löytyi listalta. Joitakin nimiä ehdotettiin. Kolme nimeä on merkitty hakemukseen. Nimiä vs. nimet reflect different grammatical contexts: nimet is the nominative plural, while nimiä is the indefinite plural form used in many common constructions.

Related terms

Nimistö refers to nomenclature or a body of names, and etunimi and sukunimi mean given name and family name, respectively. See also: nimistö, etunimi, sukunimi, Finnish noun inflection patterns.