aikaiset

Aikaiset is the plural nominative form of the Finnish adjective aikainen, meaning early or timely. It is used to describe nouns that refer to early points in time, early phases, or early members of a group. For example, aikaiset tapahtumat means early events, and aikaiset päätökset means early decisions.

Etymology and forms: Aikainen derives from aika, time, with the suffix -inen. Finnish adjectives inflect for number and case, so aikainen has forms such as aikaiset (nominative plural), aikaisen (genitive singular), aikaisten (genitive plural), and aikaisia (partitive plural). The adjective can also appear in different case endings depending on sentence structure.

Usage and nuance: Aikaiset is commonly used in historical writing, scientific contexts, and everyday speech to indicate something that occurred or existed earlier than a reference point. It denotes relative timeliness rather than a fixed, absolute measure. In some contexts, varhaiset is used to emphasize origin or earliest developmental stages, while aikainen tends to signal timeliness or proximity to an implicit time frame.

Examples:

- Aikaiset tulokset osoittivat suotuisan kehityksen. (The early results showed a favorable trend.)

- He teki aikaisen päätöksen. (He made an early decision.)

- Aikaiset sivut antavat taustatietoa projektille. (The early pages provide background information for the project.)

See also: Finnish adjectives, time-related vocabulary, varhainen.