Väkevien

Väkevien is the genitive plural form of the Finnish adjective väkevä, meaning strong, powerful, or potent. It is used when the adjective modifies a plural noun in a genitive construction, or when the phrase functions as a noun phrase referring to “the strong ones” or “of the strong ones.” In practice, väkevien appears most often in longer noun phrases such as väkevien miesten voima (“the strength of the strong men”) or väkevien naisten neuvosto (“the council of the strong women”).

In Finnish, adjectives decline to agree with the noun they modify, including in genitive constructions. Väkevien typically precedes the head noun within the genitive phrase, or follows a noun in a longer construction where the noun is in genitive. The form is common in literary, historical, and religious texts where descriptions of power or prowess are emphasized. Outside of such contexts, speakers usually rely on the base form väkevä or on a noun-based expression.

Etymology-wise, väkevä is a native Finnish adjective denoting strength or efficacy, and väkevien is its standard inflectional form for plural genitive use. The word and its inflection are part of everyday Finnish grammar, though the(genitive) use of väkevien is most recognizable in formal or literary language.

See also: väkevä, väkevyyden, kielioppi.