Odottavien

Odottavien is a grammatical form in Finnish, not a standalone lexical item. It represents the genitive plural of the present active participle odottava, which means “waiting.” In usage, odottavien functions as a participial modifier within a genitive noun phrase, conveying a relational sense such as “of those who are waiting” or “the waiting people.”

The form is typically found in combinations with a head noun in the genitive, forming phrases that describe a group or set linked to a waiting state. For example, in the phrase odottavien ihmisten jono, meaning “the queue of the people who are waiting,” odottavien is the genitive plural of odottava and ihminen(s) is in genitive to mark the linked group. This construction allows speakers to attribute a temporary or situational property (waiting) to a group without converting the entire phrase into a different syntactic category.

In practice, odottavien is most common in written Finnish, especially in descriptive, journalistic, or formal prose. It contrasts with other participial forms such as odottava (nominative singular) or odotettu (past passive participle), which serve different grammatical roles. While odottavien itself is grammatically straightforward, its use depends on the overall noun phrase and the intended emphasis on the state of waiting.

See also: Finnish grammar, participles, genitive case.