heidän

See also: heidan

Finnish

Etymology

Genitive form of he ("they").

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: hei‧dän
• Rhymes: meidän, teidän
• IPA^(key): /ˈheidæn/

Pronoun

heidän

1. their — only of human beings; used with the possessive suffix -nsa/-nsä appended to the main word owned.

   Heidän äitinsä on 45-vuotias.

   Their mother is 45 years old.

2. theirs (that which belongs to them, used without a following noun)

   Tämä kirja on heidän.

   This book is theirs.

3. they — only of human beings; used with monopersonal verbs which require genitive such as pitää, täytyä, tulla, olla + passive present participle etc.

   Heidän pitää/täytyy/tulee tehdä / on tehtävä tämä nyt.

   They have to do this now.

Usage notes

• In spoken language the possessive suffix -nsa/-nsä is often omitted.
• In spoken language often replaced by niiden (“their, theirs”).

Anagrams

• häiden