Vanhempien

Vanhempien is the genitive plural form of vanhemmat, the Finnish word for parents. It expresses possession or a parental relation and is used to indicate that something belongs to or is associated with the parents. In grammar, the genitive plural is formed by adding -en to the plural stem vanhemmat, yielding vanhempien. The possessed noun that follows vanhempien is typically in the nominative form; the number of the possessed noun agrees with what is possessed: vanhempien auto (the parents’ car), vanhempien autot (the parents’ cars).

The phrase vanhempien can also denote location or role, as in vanhempien luona (at the parents’ home) or vanhempien tarina (the parents’ story). Vanhempien can refer to biological parents, adoptive parents, or other guardians acting in a parental role. In formal or neutral contexts the term is common, while more casual speech may specify the relationship more explicitly, for example by naming the people involved or by using additional descriptors.

Etymologically, vanhempien is derived from vanhempi ('older/parent') with the standard genitive plural suffix -en. This form is a typical example of Finnish possessive constructions, where the possessor is in the genitive and the possessed noun remains in its base case. The genitive plural vanhempien is widely used in everyday language, education, media, and literature to indicate ownership or association with parents.