herkäiden

Herkäiden is the genitive plural form of the Finnish adjective herkkä, meaning delicate or sensitive. It is used in noun phrases to describe a plural noun in a genitive construction, indicating possession or relation, as in phrases that translate roughly to “of delicate …” or “delicate …” in English.

Formation and use. The form appears before a plural noun that itself is in the genitive, for example when the head noun is in genitive and the phrase modifies another noun. Common patterns include herkäiden asioiden hoito (the handling of delicate matters), herkäiden ihmisten mielipiteet (the opinions of sensitive people), or herkäiden tilanteiden hallinta (the management of delicate situations). In these cases the adjective agrees with the determiner’s noun in number and case, while the head noun remains the main noun of the phrase.

Examples and nuance. Use of herkäiden is typical in written Finnish, formal prose, journalism, and administrative language. It signals that the described matters, people, or situations require careful or tactful handling. In everyday speech, speakers may still convey similar meaning with other constructions, but the genitive plural form herkäiden is a standard, concise way to modify a plural noun within a genitive phrase.

Related consideration. The word is part of Finnish adjective declension patterns that form genitive plural with endings like -iden. It contrasts with other number-case forms of the same base adjective, such as the nominative plural herkät, which serves different syntactic roles.