syvät

Syvät is the plural form of the Finnish adjective syvä, meaning deep or profound. It is used before plural nouns to describe physical depth as well as metaphorical or abstract depth.

In practice, syvät appears in plain descriptive phrases such as syvät järvet (deep lakes), syvät meret (deep seas) and syvät kuilut (deep chasms). The word can also be extended to figurative expressions, for example syvät pohdinnat (deep thoughts) or syvät tunteet (profound emotions). When the adjective modifies a plural noun, the form remains syvät.

Grammatical note: syvät is an attributive plural form. In Finnish, adjectives used in predicative position after a linking verb typically take a different, partitive or plural form. For example, järvet ovat syviä (the predicative form is syviä, not syvät). Thus, syvät describes depth in front of a noun, whereas depth in a predicate position is expressed with a corresponding inflected form such as syviä.

Etymology and related forms: syvät derives from the root syv-, meaning deep. Related words include syvä (singular), syvällinen (profound or deep in a figurative sense), and syvyys (depth). The concept is central in both literal geography (depth of water) and metaphorical language (depth of thought, emotion, or meaning).

Usage notes: Finnish adjectives like syvä do not inflect for gender. The plural form syvät is common in natural descriptions of multiple objects or places. In specialized or literary contexts, syvä can be used in combination with other descriptors to emphasize intensity of depth or complexity.

See also: syvä, syvällinen, syvyys.