käsikädessä

Käsikädessä is a Finnish adverbial expression meaning "hand in hand" or "together", used both literally and figuratively to describe close physical proximity, cooperation, or simultaneous occurrence. The word combines käs(i) "hand" with a repeated element and the inessive case ending -ssä, conveying the state of being "in hand" with something or someone.

In everyday language it appears in phrases such as "he kävelevät käsikädessä" (they walk hand in hand) and in figurative contexts like "kulttuuri ja talous kulkevat käsikädessä" (culture and economy go hand in hand), indicating a close relationship or mutual influence. Syntactically it functions as an adverbial modifier and is commonly used with verbs of motion, being, or development.

Käsikädessä is one of several Finnish expressions with similar meaning; alternatives include käsi kädessä, käsikkäin and yhdessä, which differ slightly in register and emphasis. The term is widely used in spoken and written Finnish, including journalism, literature and political discourse, where it often serves to emphasize cooperation, partnership or parallel trends.