Päivät

Päivät is the plural form of the Finnish noun päivä, meaning day. The word can refer to a calendar day, the daytime portion of a 24-hour period, or a period of time in general. In everyday language, päivät is used to talk about multiple days or about days as a continuous sequence.

Etymology and senses: Päivä comes from the reconstructed Proto-Finnic form päivä and is related to cognates in other Finnic languages, such as Estonian päev. The term encompasses both the idea of daylight and the units of time used in calendars, as in “the days of the week” or “summer days.” The plural päivät appears in standard Finnish when referring to several days as a subject or object, while other cases express possessive, location, or duration.

Grammar and usage: In ordinary text, päivät serves as the nominative and accusative plural (the days). Its other forms include päivien (genitive plural), päiviä (partitive plural), and various illative, inessive, and other cases for more complex constructions. The word also forms common compounds such as päiväkirja (diary), päiväys (date), and päivittäinen (daily). When capitalized as Päivät, the form may function as a proper noun, typically in titles, names of works, or stylistic uses rather than as a normal word in running text.

Translations and context: In English, päivät is generally translated as “the days” or, depending on context, as a broader sense of days or daytime periods. The distinction between day as a calendar unit and day as daylight is often determined by surrounding words and context rather than by a separate word form.