pilottien

Pilottien is the genitive plural form of the Finnish noun pilotti, meaning "pilot." It is used to indicate possession or association, roughly translating to "of the pilots" or "the pilots’" in English. The form appears in noun phrases to denote what belongs to or concerns pilots.

Grammar and usage: The basic, or nominative, plural of pilotti is pilotit. The genitive singular is pilotin, and the genitive plural is pilottien. The suffix -ien marks a common genitive plural for words ending in -i in Finnish stems. In sentences, pilottien appears before the head noun in compound expressions, for example: pilottien koulutusohjelma (the pilots’ training program) or pilottien liitto (the pilots’ association). It signals collective ownership or affiliation rather than counting individual pilots.

Examples of use: The pilots’ union publishes regulations on safety and training for pilottien jäsenet. Research conducted by pilottien yhteisö examines long-term safety trends in aviation. In practical terms, pilottien is predominantly found in formal or written Finnish, particularly in institutional, legal, or organizational contexts.

Relation to other forms: Pilottien contrasts with pilotti (pilot, singular), pilotit (pilots, nominative plural), and pilotin (pilot’s, genitive singular). The word remains a standard part of Finnish grammar and does not change meaning beyond indicating possession or association.

See also: Finnish grammar, genitive cases, noun declensions, aviation terminology in Finnish.