yksityinen

Yksityinen is a Finnish adjective meaning private, not public, and it is used to describe things that belong to individuals or private organizations rather than the state or public sector. It can refer to ownership, life, or affairs that are personal or non-governmental. The word is commonly contrasted with julkinen, which denotes things related to the public sector or the state.

In usage, yksityinen appears in a variety of contexts. Typical phrases include yksityinen sektori (private sector), yksityinen omistus (private ownership), and yksityishenkilö (private individual). It also forms related terms such as yksityiselämä (private life) and yksityisyyden suoja (protection of privacy). The form changes to agree with the noun in case and number, for example yksityisen henkilön (genitive) or yksityisestä helpoimaan (adessive), following Finnish adjective declension rules.

The term also enters compound words that emphasize non-public or personal aspects, such as yksityisyrittäjä (private entrepreneur) and other forms where the private/public distinction remains central. In legal, economic, and everyday language, yksityinen marks distinctions between personal or privately owned matters and those that are publicly administered or funded.

Overall, yksityinen is a core Finnish term for describing private ownership, private life, and non-public actors, functioning as the standard counterpart to julkinen in discussions of economy, governance, and personal privacy.