tärkeitä

Tärkeitä is the plural partitive form of the Finnish adjective tärkeä, meaning "important." In Finnish, adjectives inflect to agree with the noun they modify in number and case, and tärkeitä is used when the head noun is plural and in the partitive case, or in constructions where a partitive complement is required.

In usage, tärkeitä describes multiple items that are not treated as a definite, fully specified set, or when the sentence calls for the partitive. Common collocations include tärkeitä asioita (important matters), tärkeitä tehtäviä (important tasks), and tärkeitä kysymyksiä (important questions). Examples: "Tärkeitä asioita ovat terveys, perhe ja turvallisuus." "Hankkeessa on useita tärkeitä tehtäviä." "Nämä ovat tärkeitä kysymyksiä, joita on pohdittava." These phrases illustrate how the adjective governs the noun in the partitive plural form.

Relation to other forms: tärkeä is the singular form; tärkeät is the plural nominative; tärkeitä is specifically the plural partitive form. The noun form for the concept of importance is tärkeys, but tärkeitä remains an adjective form used to modify plural nouns in the partitive.

Etymology: tärkeitä is derived from tärkeä, with the same semantic core of “weighty” or “significant,” extended to describe multiple items of importance. It is a standard, neutral term in Finnish for referring to things that are considered important.