heikkenevat

Heikkenevat is a Finnish verb form meaning “they weaken” or “they are weakening.” It is the third-person plural present indicative of the verb heikkeneä, which describes a process of becoming weaker, less strong, or of a condition diminishing in intensity or quality. The stem is heikkene-, derived from the adjective heikko (weak) with the inchoative or gradual-change suffix, and the present plural ending is -vät, which follows Finnish vowel harmony to yield heikkenevät.

The form is used to describe ongoing or future processes that reduce strength, capability, or conditions. It appears in scientific and descriptive writing as well as everyday language, including contexts such as physiology, weather-related descriptions, economics, and sports.

Examples of use include:

- Voimat heikkenevät iän myötä.

- Tilanteet heikkenevät nopeasti, ellei toimia tehdä.

Related forms include the present active participle heikkenevä and the noun heikkeneminen, both of which derive from the same stem. The imperfect past form is heikkenivät, and the negated or conditional variants follow standard Finnish conjugation patterns for the verb heikkeneä. In summary, heikkenevat denotes a plural subject undergoing a process of weakening in the present tense.