oletettavat

Oletettavat is a Finnish term formed as the plural nominative of the participle olettettava, which comes from the verb olettaa meaning "to suppose." It functions as an adjective meaning "to be supposed" or "putative." When placed before a noun, olettettavat marks items that are assumed or taken as given for the purposes of analysis, argument, or discussion.

The form is common in formal or technical Finnish, particularly in scientific, philosophical, or analytical writing. It is often used to label elements labeled as hypothetical or assumed, for example olettettavat tekijät (the putative factors) or olettettavat rajoitteet (the assumed constraints). In practice, olettettavat is closely related to olettama and olettamat, which refer to the assumption itself, while olettettavat describes the items that are assumed.

Grammatical notes: olettettavat declines like other Finnish adjectives. Nominative plural is olettettavat; genitive plural olettettavien; partitive plural olettettavia. It is typically used attributively, as in olettettavat asiat (the putative matters). It can appear in predicative positions, but this usage is less common in everyday language.

Etymology and related terms: the word is derived from olettaa ("to suppose") with the adjectival suffix -ttava, yielding olettettava ("to be supposed"). Related terms include olettama/olettamat (an assumption or set of assumptions) and putatiivinen (a more everyday equivalent of "putative" in some contexts).