Älykkäitä

älykkäitä is the partitive plural form of the Finnish adjective älykäs, which means intelligent or smart. In Finnish, adjectives decline for number and case, so älykkäitä is used when describing a plural noun in the partitive case or in contexts involving negation. The corresponding nominative plural form is älykkäät (for example, älykkäät ihmiset = intelligent people).

Etymology and form: älykäs literally conveys the idea of possessing intelligence. The word is built from the stem äly (intelligence, wit) plus a suffix that marks the adjective’s meaning. When the noun it modifies is plural and in the partitive case, the adjective takes the form älykkäitä. This contrasts with the singular positive form älykäs or the plural nominative älykkäät.

Grammatical notes: Finnish adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in number and case, but not in gender. Partitive plural forms like älykkäitä appear in sentences with indefinite objects or after negation, or when the object is not fully completed or bounded. Examples include älykkäitä ratkaisuja (intelligent solutions, partitive plural) or en näe älykkäitä ihmisiä (I don’t see intelligent people; with negation, partitive is used in the predicate position as well: ovat älykkäitä).

Usage context: älykkäitä commonly describes people, ideas, or things regarded as possessing notable intelligence, such as lapset (children), ratkaisut (solutions), or ideat (ideas). It is distinct from älykä kaas smaller variants like älykäs and älyllinen, which carry related but slightly different nuances.

See also: älykäs, älyllinen, älykkäät (plural nominative).