Hyvä mies, a good man; hyvät miehet, good men. Näissä suurissa kaupungeissa, in these large towns. Köyhille lapsille, to the poor children.
There are, however, a considerable number of exceptions.
(1) Adjectives, as well as substantives, from which they can hardly be distinguished, enter very readily into composition as the first member of a compound word, and then are not declined, e.g. mustameri, the Black Sea. Isokyrö, Vähäkyrö, names of villages. Cf. such expressions as mennyt vuonna, rankka sateella, tuiskusäällä, pakkasilmalla.
(2) Some adjectives are never declined: aika, kelpo, oiva, ensi, viime, eri, joka, koko, nyky, pikku.
Ensi maanantaina, on next Monday. Kelpo miehelle, to the good man. Eri osat, separate parts. Joka paikassa, in every place.
(3) A certain number of adjectives and pronouns, instead of following the regular construction, take after them an instructive plur. or a partitive sing., e.g. olla pahoilla mielin, to be in a good temper; tulla hyville mielin, to get into a good temper. Samalla ajoin, at the same time. Kaikissa paikoin, everywhere. Omilla korvin or silmin, with one’s own eyes or ears. Näillä seuduin, in this part of the world.
(4) The words kulta, dear; parka, raiska, raukka, riepu, poor, wretched; vaivainen, poor; vainaja, dead; paha, pahanen, polo, polonen, poor, though written separately, form a sort of compound with a substantive, which they may either precede or follow. Only the last of the two words is declined. Thus, poika polosella oli kiire, or polo pojalla, the poor boy had to hurry. Älä suututa äiti kultaani, or kulta äitiäni, do not anger my dear mother. Minä en nähnyt lapsi parkaani, I have not seen my poor child. Woi minua mies parkaa, woe is me, poor man.
As will be perceived from the rules given above (p. [124]), an adjective predicated of a substantive does not always agree with the latter, but may be in the partitive, essive, or translative, when the substantive is in the nominative.