Breakdown of Hyväksymme päätöksen vähäisin poikkeuksin.
päätös
decision
hyväksyä
to accept
vähäinen
slight
poikkeus
exception
Questions & Answers about Hyväksymme päätöksen vähäisin poikkeuksin.
Why do both vähäisin and poikkeuksin end in -in here?
They are both in the instructive case, which is almost always used in the plural and generally translates to "with" or "by means of". Just like with other grammatical cases in Finnish, the adjectival modifier (vähäinen) must agree with the noun it modifies (poikkeus). Therefore, both words take the plural instructive suffix -n.
How are the forms vähäisin and poikkeuksin built from their base words?
The instructive case is formed by taking the plural stem of a word and adding -n. For words ending in -nen like vähäinen, the plural stem is vähäisi-, so adding -n makes vähäisin. For words ending in -us like poikkeus, the plural stem is poikkeuksi-, which gives us poikkeuksin.
Could I say vähäisten poikkeuksien kanssa instead to mean the same thing?
Grammatically you could, but the instructive case is heavily preferred for fixed, abstract expressions like "with minor exceptions", "with bare hands", or "with good intentions". Using the postposition kanssa here would sound a bit clumsy and overly literal to a native speaker, whereas vähäisin poikkeuksin is the established, idiomatic way to phrase it.
Why is the object päätös in the genitive-accusative form (päätöksen)?
This is a quick refresher on object rules. The verb hyväksyä (to accept) is a standard transitive verb. Because the action of accepting is complete and applies to the entire decision, it requires a total object rather than a partitive object. Therefore, päätös takes the genitive-like accusative ending -n.
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