Varhaisten

Varhaisten is a Finnish grammatical form used as the genitive plural of the adjective phrase varhaiset, which means “the early ones.” In Finnish, adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in number and case, and when the phrase varhaiset is used to modify a noun in the genitive plural, it takes the form varhaisten. The resulting expression is typically found in phrases that denote possession or association, such as “varhaisten ajatusten vaikutus” (the influence of early ideas) or “varhaisten ihmisten tarina” (the story of the early people).

Usage and function

Varhaisten serves to indicate that the described noun belongs to a group characterized as early or prior in time. It is commonly found in historical, developmental, or comparative contexts. The construction is productive in written and formal Finnish, and can precede a broad range of genitive nouns (ajatusten, ihmisiden, lasten, etc.), all signaling a relationship to an earlier or initial set.

Morphology

The base form varhaiset is declined for case and number, and in the genitive plural it becomes varhaisten before the following genitive noun. This pattern is part of standard Finnish adjective-noun sequencing in possessive or descriptive phrases.

See also

-varhaiset (the base plural form meaning “the early ones”) and varhaisin (the superlative form meaning “the earliest”).

Notes

Varhaisten is a functional form rather than a standalone lexical item with independent meaning; its interpretation relies on the accompanying noun in genitive.