pienenevät

Pienenevät is the present tense plural form of the Finnish verb pienentyä, meaning “they become smaller” or “they diminish.” It is used to describe processes in which size, amount, or intensity decreases, such as prices, demand, or quantities.

In Finnish, pienentyä is an intransitive verb, and pienenevät is used with plural subjects capable of shrinking. The infinitive is pienentyä, and the form pienenevät reflects agreement with a plural subject in the present tense. The word conveys a gradual or ongoing change rather than a completed act, and it is common in discussions of economic trends, ecological changes, and technical processes.

Etymology and nuance: pienenevät is derived from the adjective pieni (small) with the -nty- suffix that forms verbs indicating a change toward becoming that quality. The construction emphasizes a shift toward smaller size or lesser degree and is often contrasted with forms describing growth or stabilization.

Examples:

- Hinnat pienenevät, kun tarjonta ylittää kysynnän. (Prices decrease when supply exceeds demand.)

- Tilaukset pienenevät yleisen epävarmuuden vuoksi. (Orders are diminishing due to general uncertainty.)

- Varastojen määrät pienenevät kevään aikana. (The amounts in inventories decline during spring.)

See also: pienentyä, Finnish verb conjugation, suffixes that express change.