puhtaiden

Puhtaiden is the genitive plural form of the Finnish adjective puhdas, meaning clean. In Finnish, adjectives can function as nouns or modify nouns, and their forms change to agree with the case and number of the noun they describe. Puhtaiden is specifically the genitive plural form used when the following noun is in the genitive case, signaling possession or a relational link, such as “the hands of the clean ones.”

Usage and grammar

Puhtas has the plural nominative puhtaat (the clean ones). When forming phrases that express possession or association with another noun in genitive, the adjective takes the genitive plural ending, resulting in puhtaiden. This form appears in contexts like puhtaiden käsien kautta (through the hands of the clean ones) or puhtaiden ihmisten toiminta (the actions of the clean people). The construction is common in written Finnish, especially in descriptive, narrative, or poetic registers, and it is largely transparent to speakers familiar with Finnish noun–genitive patterns.

Examples

- Puhtaiden käsien kautta.

- Puhtaiden ihmisten yllätykseksi.

Notes

Puhtaiden cannot stand alone as a standalone noun; it functions as an attributive genitive form of the adjective puhdas, tied to a following noun in genitive. The form illustrates Finnish adjective declension and the rich system of case-based concord in Finnish grammar.

See also

Finnish grammar, adjectives, genitive case.