Poikien

Poikien is the genitive plural form of the Finnish noun poika, meaning boy. It is used to indicate possession or association with more than one boy, and corresponds to the English phrase “of the boys” or the possessive plural “the boys’.”

Morphology and usage: In Finnish, the genitive plural shows ownership or relation to a plural possessor. For poika, the genitive singular is pojan and the genitive plural is poikien. The genitive plural is attached to a following head noun to form possessive phrases, for example poikien kerho (the boys’ club), poikien vanhemmat (the boys’ parents) or poikien harrastukset (the boys’ hobbies).

Grammatical role: Poikien itself functions as a possessive determiner in phrases and does not stand alone as a independent noun. The head noun that follows carries the main meaning, while poikien marks that the head noun belongs to or relates to multiple boys. When referring to a single boy, the singular possessor pojan is used instead (for example pojan auto = the boy’s car).

Examples in context: Poikien kerho järjestää retken perjantaina. (The boys’ club is organizing a trip on Friday.) Poikien vanhemmat keskustelivat tapahtumasta. (The boys’ parents discussed the event.) Poikien oikeudet ovat tietyssä yhteydessä kiistanaihe, riippuen kontekstista. (The boys’ rights are a matter of debate, depending on the context.)

Notes: Finnish possessive constructions rely on case endings rather than prepositional phrases, and the genitive plural forms vary across nouns. Poikien is a typical example of how possession by a plural subject is expressed in Finnish.