Finnish language noun cases
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Nouns in the Finnish language have a large number of grammatical cases, which are detailed here. Please refer to the Finnish language grammar page for more about nouns and other aspects of Finnish grammar.
| Contents |
| Finnish cases | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| case | suffix | English prep. | sample | translation |
| Grammatical | ||||
| nominatiivi | - | talo | house | |
| genetiivi | -n | of | talon | of (a) house |
| akkusatiivi | - or -n | - | talo or talon | house |
| partitiivi | -(t)a | - | taloa | house (as an object) |
| Locative (internal) | ||||
| inessiivi | -ssa | in | talossa | in (a) house |
| elatiivi | -sta | from (inside) | talosta | from (a) house |
| illatiivi | -an, -en, etc. | into | taloon | into (a) house |
| Locative (external) | ||||
| adessiivi | -lla | at, on | talolla | at (a) house |
| ablatiivi | -lta | from | talolta | from (a) house |
| allatiivi | -lle | to | talolle | to (a) house |
| Marginal | ||||
| essiivi | -na | as | talona | as a house |
| translatiivi | -ksi | to (role of) | taloksi | to a house |
| instruktiivi | -n | with (the aid of) | (talon)/taloin | with (a) house |
| abessiivi | -tta | without | talotta | without (a) house |
| komitatiivi | -ne- | together (with) | taloineni | with my house(s) |
Grammatical cases
The grammatical cases perform all the important grammatical functions.
- Nominative
- The basic form of the noun
- Characteristic ending: none in the singular
- 'talo' = 'a/the house'
- 'kirja' = 'book'
- 'mäki' = 'hill'
- 'vesi' = 'water'
- Genitive
- Characteristic ending: -n possibly modified by consonant gradation: mäki -> mäen, talo -> talon. For the nouns and adjectives that have two vowel stems, the weak vowel stem comes from the genitive singular.
- Basically indicating possession, but also the case of the direct object of a completed action. It is also used preceding postpositions.
- "kirja|n kuvat" = "the pictures in the book"
- "talo|n seinät" = "the walls of the house"
- "mäe|n päällä" = "on top of the hill"
- "vede|n alla" = "under water"
- Accusative
- This is the case of the direct object and is sometimes used as a label when the genitive or nominative form is used in this role. The accusative role only has a separate form for the pronoun 'ken' and the personal pronouns
- Singular
- minut = me
- sinut = you
- hänet = him/her
- Plural
- meidät = us
- teidät = you
- heidät = them
- Polite
- Teidät = you
- Question
- kenet = whom
- With nouns, accusative is morphologically similar to the genitive or nominative in singular forms ("ostin kirjan" = "I bought a book") and nominative in plural forms ("ostin kirjat" = "I bought the books").
- Partitive
- Characteristic ending: -a/-ä or -ta/-tä. The consonant stem of a noun (if any) comes from the partitive singular. Otherwise the ending is added to the strong vowel stem.
- The basic meaning of this case is "partialness". The partitive is the second most common case in Finnish. It's used in the following circumstances:
- After numerals:
- 'kolme talo|a' = 'three houses'
- 'kaksi las|ta' = 'two children'
- For incomplete actions and ongoing processes whose ending or end result is unknown (the partitive object):
- "luen kirja|a" = "I'm reading a book"
- "hän opetti minu|a lukemaan" = "s/he was teaching me to read"
- "rakastan sinu|a" = "I love you"
- "ajattelin huomis|ta" = "I thought about tomorrow"
- With nouns of indefinite number or substance nouns (the partitive object):
- "onko teillä kirjo|j|a?" = "do you have any books ?"
- "haluan vet|tä" = "I want some water"
- For negative statements and for tentative enquiries (the partitive object):
- "talossa ei ole yhtään kirjaa" = "there is not a book in the house"
- "en nähnyt hän|tä" = "I didn't see him/her"
- "saanko lainata kirjaa?" = "can I borrow the book?"
- With prepositions
- "ennen mäke|ä" = "before the hill"
- "ilman takki|a" = "without a coat"
- Very rarely indicates location (coming from/ being found somewhere):
- "rann|empa|a" = "closer to the shore"
- "länn|empä|ä" = "further west"
The formation of the partitive plural is rather variable, but the basic principle is to add '-i-' to the inflecting stem, followed by the '-(t)a' partitive ending. However, in a similar way to verb imperfects, the '-i-' can cause changes to the final vowel of the stem, leading to an apparent diversity of forms. ! MORE HERE.
Locative Cases
The most important function of the locative cases is to indicate location. They are often divided into two groups: the internal locatives and the external locatives.
Internal Locatives
- Inessive
- Characteristic ending -ssa/-ssä added to the weak vowel stem
- The first of the six so-called "local" cases which as their basic meaning correspond to locational prepositions in English. The inessive carries the basic meaning "inside" or "in"
- "talo|ssa" = "in the house"
- It is also commonplace to indicate time or immediate contact with the inessive
- "joulukuu|ssa" = "in December"
- "joulukuuse|ssa" = "on the Christmas tree"
- Elative
- Characteristic ending -sta/-stä added to the weak vowel stem
- The second of the local cases with the basic meaning of "coming out from inside" or "out of"
- "tuli talo|sta" = "(he) came out of the house"
- Like the inessive, the elative can also be used to indicate time or immediate contact. Can also indicate origin or cause.
- "viime joulu|sta lähtien" = "since last Christmas"
- "nouse sängy|stä" = "get out of the bed"
- "tehty villa|sta" = "made of wool"
- "vihreänä kateude|sta" = "green with envy"
- Illative
- While the choice of a proper ending is not straightforward, the ending is often a geminated final vowel plus -n. The ending is added to the strong vowel stem. The third of the local cases with the basic meaning "into"
- "meni talo|on" = "(he) went into the house"
- "vete|en" = into the water"
- "kuu|hun" = "to the moon"
- The illative can also indicate close contact, time or cause
- "huomise|en" = "until tomorrow"
- "kevää|seen" = "until spring"
- "kylmä|än voi kuolla" = "one can die of cold"
External Locatives
- Adessive
- Characteristic ending -lla/-llä added to the weak vowel stem
- The fourth of the local cases with the basic meaning 'on top of' or 'in close proximity of'
- "mäe|llä" = "on the hill"
- "ove|lla" = "at the door"
- Adessive is also commonly used with the verb 'olla' to indicate possession
- "minu|lla on kirja" = "I have a book" (literally "there is a book on me")
- It can also indicate time, means or way
- "aamu|lla" = "in the morning"
- "bussi|lla" = "by bus"
- "vasara|lla" = "with a hammer"
- "kävellä varpa|i|lla|an" = "to walk on tiptoe/ on one's toes"
- Ablative
- Characteristic ending -lta/-ltä added to the weak vowel stem
- The fifth of the local cases with the basic meaning "from off of" - a poor English equivalent, but necessary to distinguish it from "from out of" which would be elative.
- "mäe|ltä" = "from (off) the hill"
- "nousin sohva|lta" = "(I) got up from the sofa"
- "Liisa sai kirjan minu|lta" = "Liisa got the book from me"
- The ablative can also indicate time and it can be used to convey information about qualities
- "kahdeksa|lta" = "at eight (o'clock)"
- "hän on ulkonäö|ltä|än miellyttävä" = (freely:)"she has a pleasant appearance"
- Allative
- Characteristic ending -lle added to the weak vowel stem
- The sixth of the local cases with the basic meaning "onto".
- "mäe|lle" = "onto the hill"
- Another meaning is "to someone" or "for someone"
- "minä annan kirjan Liisa|lle" = "I give the book to Liisa"
- "pöytä kahde|lle" = "a table for two"
- With verbs of sensation, it is possible to use either the ablative or allative case
- "tuoksuu hyvä|ltä/ hyvä|lle" = "(it) smells good"
Marginal Cases
As their name indicates, the use of these cases is rather marginal. The name "general locatives" is sometimes used of the essive and translative cases (as well as partitive above) because their oldest meanings imply that they have been used to indicate location.
- Essive
- Characteristic ending -na. If the noun or adjective has two vowel stems, the strong vowel stem comes from the essive singular. NB the consonant stem used to be quite common in the essive, and some nouns and adjectives still have this feature.
- This case sometimes carries the meaning of a temporary state of being, often equivalent to the English "as a ..."
- "lapse|na" = "as a child", "when (I) was a child"
- "vete|nä" = "as water"
- "pien|i|nä palas|i|na" = "in small pieces"
- "se on täyn|nä" = "it is full"
- The essive is also used for specifying days and dates when something happens.
- "huomen|na" = "tomorrow"
- "maanantai|na" = "on Monday"
- "kuudente|na joulukuuta" = "on the 6th of December" (Finnish independence day).
- In ancient Finnish, essive had a meaning similar to the local cases, which can still be seen in some words (being somewhere):
- "rann|empa|na" = "closer to the shore"
- "länn|empä|nä" = "further west"
- Translative
- Characteristic ending -ksi added to the weak vowel stem. The ending is -kse- before a possessive suffix.
- This is the counterpart of the essive, with the basic meaning of a change of state. Examples:
- "maalaa se punaise|ksi" = "paint it red"
- "tunnen itseni väsynee|ksi" = "I feel tired".
- "se muuttui vede|ksi" = "it turned into water"
- Also has a meaning similar to English "for a ..."
- "mäki on englanni|ksi 'hill'" = (literally:) "'hill' is English for mäki"
- "toistaise|ksi" = "for the time being", "for now"
- "suunnitelmia perjantai|ksi" = "plans for Friday"
- "valmis perjantaiksi" = "ready by Friday"
- "mitä sinä teet työ|kse|si?" = "what do you do for a living?"
- Very rarely indicates location (going somewhere):
- "rann|emma|ksi" = "closer to the shore"
- "länn|emmä|ksi" = "further west"
- Instructive
- Characteristic ending -n added usually (but not always) to plural stem
- This has the basic meaning of "by means of". It is a comparatively rarely used case, though it is found in some commonly used expressions.
- "omi|n silmi|n" = "with (my) own eyes"
- "käsi|n" = "by hand"
- "rinta rinna|n = "side by side"
- "jala|n" = "by foot"
- It is also used with verbal second infinitives to mean "by ...ing", for example
- "lentäen" = "by flying", "by air"
- Abessive
- Characteristic ending -tta
- This has the basic meaning of "without". This case is a rarely used by itself, especially in the spoken language, but is found in some expressions and proverbs
- "joka kuri|tta kasvaa, se kunnia|tta kuolee" = "who grows up without discipline, dies without honor"
- However, abessive is quite common in combination with the third infinitive (-ma-, -mä-).
- "syömättä" = "without eating"
- "tekemättä" = "without doing"
- "... lukuun ottamatta" = "without taking into account..."
- Comitative
- Characteristic ending -ine (plus a possessive suffix for nouns but none for adjectives). This ending is added to the plural stem, even if the noun is singular, which may sometimes cause confusion.
- This is a rarely used case, especially in the spoken language. The meaning is "in the company of" or "together with"
- "talo kirjo|ine|en" = "the house with its books" or "book"
- "hän saapui kauni|ine vaimo|ine|en" = "he arrived together with his beautiful wife" or "wives"
Others
- Prolative
- This is only found in a few "fossilised" forms in modern Finnish (though it is alive and well in Estonian). Its meaning is "by way of", some common examples being
- 'post|itse' = 'by post'
- 'puhelimi|tse' = 'by phone'
- 'meri|tse' = 'by sea'
- 'kiertotei|tse' = 'by indirect route', or 'in a roundabout way'
- 'yli|tse' = 'over'
- 'ohi|tse|ni' = 'past me'
- Prolative is not considered to be a case in the official grammar.