molemmat

Molemmat is a Finnish determiner and pronoun meaning "both," used to refer to two people, objects, or groups that are known to the listener or have been mentioned in the discourse. It generally precedes a plural noun, and the noun carries the case endings. For example, in the sentence Molemmat pojat olivat koulussa, both boys were at school, the subject phrase refers to two specific boys.

In addition to its determiner function, molemmat can act as a standalone pronoun meaning "both of them." This use is common in sentences where the subject or object is understood to be two items or people. Molemmat may also appear in genitive constructions with a following noun to express possession or association, as in Molempien vanhempien mielestä, meaning "in the opinion of both parents." Here molempien is the genitive plural form of molemmat, showing how the form inflects to fit different grammatical roles.

Molemmat is closely related to related forms such as molemmatkin, an emphatic version meaning "both (of them), indeed" or "both of them as well." The word kumpikin is a related but more distributive term meaning "each of the two." Use of molemmat is appropriate when the speaker intends to refer to two entities collectively rather than treating them as individuals.

Notes on usage include that molemmat accompanies plural nouns, and its form changes when used in possessive or other dependent phrases. It is a common, standard element of everyday Finnish grammar and appears in both spoken and written language. See also kumpikin, molemmatkin, and kaikki for related ways of expressing quantity or distribution.