väikset

Väikset is an Estonian inflected form of the adjective väike, meaning “small” or “little.” It is used within noun phrases to describe multiple small objects or beings, or to refer to “the small ones” in a general sense. As a grammatical form, väikset is not a separate word with its own lexical meaning; rather, it is how the adjective väike adapts when it accompanies a noun in certain cases and numbers.

In everyday Estonian, väikset appears when speakers refer to several small items or individuals without specifying exact quantity, or when emphasizing the notion of smallness within a group. The form is part of regular agreement between adjective and noun and varies with the grammatical case and number of the noun it modifies. Because Estonian adjectives decline to match nouns, different forms of väike, including väikset, are used across diverse syntactic contexts.

Väikset is related to other forms of the same root, such as väike (the base form) and väikesed (the nominative plural). The word belongs to standard Estonian vocabulary and is commonly encountered in everyday speech, writing, and education, as well as in literature and media that describe small things or diminutive figures. It illustrates how Estonian expresses quantity and specificity through inflection rather than separate lexical categories.

See also: väike, väikesed, väikelaps.