Finnish grammar: genitive
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The genitive is a case that indicates possession (i.e. Mervin kitara = Mervi's Guitar). The genitive case usually has a weak grade consonant graduation in the inflectional stem (i.e. onni -> onnen). Note that the word order in Finnish for the genitive case usually has the possessor first, and the object being possessed proceeding. However, poetically this can be reversed.
- Kreikan meri
- Greece's sea
- meri Kreikan
- sea of Greece
Note the second one is not used often unless in songs or in poems.
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Genitive Singular
The genitive singular in Finnish is simply marked by a -n at the end of the object that indicates possession.
| Basic form | In English | Singular |
|---|---|---|
| maa | country | maa/n |
| tuli | fire | tule/n |
| mies | man | miehe/n |
| kone | machine | konee/n |
Here's an example:
- Jani/n auto on valkoinen
- Jani's car is white.
Genitive Plural
The plural form of the genitive case is the most complex in the Finnish language, as the partitive of the word is usually the determining factor of the ending stem. Compare the following examples:
- If the partitive plural of a word ends with -a or -ä, then the genitive plural ending is -en.
- If the partitive plural is -ta or -tä, the genitive plural is -den. This ending can also be replaced with -tten.
- If the partitive singular is -ta or -tä, the genitive plural ending is -ten.
Use the table below to compare different words in the genitive plural. Note that the 'partitive' column indicates the partitive plural of a word, unless indicated with a *, which will then mean it's the partitive singular. The 'inflection stem' column will use the genitive singular.
| Basic form | In English | Inflection stem* | Partitive | Genitive Pl | Or (rarely used) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| maa | country | maa/n | ma/i/ta | ma/i/den | |
| peruna | potato | peruna/n | peruno/i/ta | peruno/i/den | |
| käsi | hand | käde/n | käs/i/ä | käs/i/en | kät/ten |
| nainen | woman | naise/n | nais/i/a | nais/i/en | |
| nainen | woman | naise/n | *nais/ta | nais/ten | nais/i/en |
| kieli | language | kiele/n | *kiel/tä | kiel/ten | kiel/i/en |
Some examples are:
- Auto/j/en katot ovat keltaisia
- The cars' roofs are yellow
- Talo/j/en sisällä on lämmin
- The houses' inside at is warm (i.e. it's warm inside the houses)
- Ma/i/den liput ovat erivärisiä
- The countries' flags are different colors
- Use/i/den mielestä tämä lause on hyödyllinen
- In many people's opinion this sentence is helpful
- Nais/ten laukut ovat pieniä
- The womens' bags are small.
- Las/ten hampaissa on reikiä
- In the children's teeth is cavities (i.e. The childrens' teeth have cavities)
Possessive Suffixes
Finnish does not have stand alone possessive pronouns (such as my), so to show possession, one must use the genitive forms of personal pronouns.
| Personal Pro | In English | Genitive form | In English |
|---|---|---|---|
| minä | I | minu/n | my |
| sinä | you | sinu/n | your |
| hän | he, she | häne/n | his, her |
| me | we | meidä/n | our |
| te | you (pl.) | teidä/n | your (pl.) |
| he | they | heidä/n | their |
The word being possessed also takes an ending corresponding to the personal pronoun. Sometimes the genitive form of the personal pronoun can be dropped altogether to be replaced by the possessive suffix.
| Singular | Plural | |
| First Person | -ni | -mme |
| Second Person | -si | -nne |
| Third Person | -nsa or -nsä | -nsa or -nsä |
Some examples showing this would be:
- (Minun) kissani on hullu
- My cat is crazy
- (Sinun) päässäsi ovat kuulokkeet
- There are headphones on your head
- (Meidän) silmämme ovat sokaistut.
- Our eyes are blinded.
- (Teidän) kuninkaanne on kuollut!
- Your king is dead! (Plural 'your')
Note that the personal pronouns (in brackets) can also be left out. However, colloquially they are often used, and the suffixes are dropped.
Where does the possessive suffix go, when combined with other suffixes?
With the grammatical cases the possessive suffix goes second:
- Ystävälleni (allative)
- Ystävältäni (ablative)
- Ystäväkseni (translative)
- Ystävänäni (essive)
With other kinds of suffixes the possessive suffix goes first:
- Ystävänikö
- Ystävänihän
- Ystävänikin
External Links
Touko Pouko - Säteilysuojakypärä - An excellent demonstration of the genitive form.
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