Talking about how much something costs, how much of it there is, and how far away it sits pulls together several of Finnish's case rules at once. The through-line is the partitive: a number counts a single partitive-singular unit (viisi euroa, "five euros"), and a measure word measures out a partitive substance (litra maitoa, "a litre of milk"). Rates and distances then bring in the inessive and the genitive. This page assembles the whole practical toolkit for prices, amounts, speeds and distances.
Price: number + partitive singular
The verb for "cost" is maksaa, and the price after it follows Finnish's core counting rule: a number greater than one is followed by the partitive singular, never a plural. So it is viisi euroa — "five euro" in shape — not viisi eurot.
Kuinka paljon tämä lippu maksaa?
How much does this ticket cost?
Se maksaa kaksikymmentäviisi euroa.
It costs twenty-five euros.
Kahvi maksaa täällä vain kaksi euroa.
Coffee costs only two euros here.
The thing that costs — lippu, kahvi — is the nominative subject, and only the price amount takes the partitive. Watch that even a huge number keeps the unit singular: sata euroa (a hundred euros), tuhat euroa (a thousand euros), miljoona euroa (a million euros). The number one is the sole exception: it takes the nominative singular, yksi euro.
Measure phrases: a litre of milk, a kilo of apples
To measure out a quantity of a substance, put the measure word first (in the nominative) and the substance after it in the partitive — singular for a mass, plural for countable things:
| Measure word | Substance (partitive) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| litra | maitoa | a litre of milk |
| kilo | omenoita | a kilo of apples |
| kuppi | kahvia | a cup of coffee |
| lasi | vettä | a glass of water |
| pala | kakkua | a piece of cake |
| pullo | viiniä | a bottle of wine |
Ostin kilon omenoita ja litran maitoa.
I bought a kilo of apples and a litre of milk.
Saisinko kupin kahvia ja palan kakkua?
Could I have a cup of coffee and a piece of cake?
Notice in the first example that when the whole phrase becomes a completed object, the measure word takes the object ending (kilon, litran) while the substance stays in the partitive (omenoita, maitoa). The measure word carries the grammar; the substance stays partitive throughout. This is the same partitive-of-substance rule laid out for numbers on the partitive after numbers page. Bare units of measurement behave identically: kaksi metriä (two metres), kolme kiloa (three kilos), viisi litraa (five litres).
Rate and "per": the inessive and the ablative
English uses one word, per, for every rate. Finnish splits the job between two cases depending on what you are dividing by.
Per unit of time → the inessive -ssa/-ssä. Speed and frequency are counted "within" a time unit:
Juna kulkee jopa kaksisataa kilometriä tunnissa.
The train travels up to two hundred kilometres per hour.
Käyn kuntosalilla kolme kertaa viikossa.
I go to the gym three times a week.
So it is tunnissa (per hour), päivässä (per day), viikossa (per week), kuukaudessa (per month) — the inessive doing the work of "per".
Per unit of goods → the ablative -lta/-ltä. When you price something by the kilo, the piece, or the head, the unit takes the ablative:
Perunat maksavat euron kilolta.
The potatoes cost a euro per kilo.
Sisäänpääsy on kymmenen euroa hengeltä.
Admission is ten euros per person.
In casual speech you will also hear the bare nominative for unit price — kaksi euroa kilo ("two euros a kilo") — but the ablative kilolta is the standard written form.
Distance: the genitive plus päässä
Distance "away" uses the noun pää ("end") in the inessive, päässä ("at the end/distance of"), with the measured length in front of it in the genitive:
Asun vain kilometrin päässä keskustasta.
I live just a kilometre from the centre.
Mökki on kahden kilometrin päässä lähimmästä tiestä.
The cottage is two kilometres from the nearest road.
Both the number and the unit go into the genitive before päässä: kahden kilometrin päässä, sadan metrin päässä. Change the ending to the illative päähän and you get motion to that distance — muutin sadan kilometrin päähän ("I moved to a hundred kilometres away"). The very same -n päästä frame even measures distance in time: tulen kahden viikon päästä ("I'll come in two weeks").
Age: "years old"
Age is expressed with vuotta — the partitive of vuosi ("year"), again singular after a number — usually with vanha ("old"), or by the compact one-word adjective in -vuotias:
Olen kolmekymmentä vuotta vanha.
I am thirty years old.
Tyttäremme on juuri täyttänyt kaksi vuotta.
Our daughter has just turned two.
Naapurissa asuu viisivuotias poika.
A five-year-old boy lives next door.
Both routes are natural. Kolmekymmentä vuotta (vanha) spells it out; kolmekymmentävuotias / viisivuotias packs "N-year-old" into a single word (written solid, or with a hyphen after a digit: 5-vuotias). To say someone "turns" an age, use täyttää + the number: täytän ensi viikolla neljäkymmentä ("I turn forty next week").
Common Mistakes
❌ Se maksaa viisi eurot.
Incorrect — a number takes the partitive singular, not a plural: viisi euroa.
✅ Se maksaa viisi euroa.
It costs five euros.
❌ Ostin litra maito.
Incorrect — a measure word is followed by the partitive substance: litra maitoa (and the object measure word inflects: litran maitoa).
✅ Ostin litran maitoa.
I bought a litre of milk.
❌ Juna kulkee kaksisataa kilometriä per tunti.
Incorrect — 'per hour' is the inessive tunnissa; Finnish has no 'per' word here.
✅ Juna kulkee kaksisataa kilometriä tunnissa.
The train travels two hundred kilometres per hour.
❌ Asun kaksi kilometriä päässä.
Incorrect — distance takes the genitive before päässä: kahden kilometrin päässä.
✅ Asun kahden kilometrin päässä.
I live two kilometres away.
Key Takeaways
- Price: number + partitive singular — viisi euroa, sata euroa (never eurot); the number one alone takes the nominative, yksi euro.
- Measure: measure word (nominative/object) + partitive substance — litra maitoa, kilo omenoita, kaksi metriä.
- Rate "per": per time → inessive (tunnissa, kolme kertaa viikossa); per unit of goods → ablative (euron kilolta, hengeltä).
- Distance: length in the genitive
- Age: kolmekymmentä vuotta (vanha) or the one-word -vuotias — viisivuotias, 5-vuotias.
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- Money, Weights and MeasuresA2 — Prices and quantities follow the counting rule: after a number the unit is partitive singular — viisi euroa, kaksi kiloa, litra maitoa. Watch harmony and length.
- Numbers Take the Partitive Singular: kaksi kissaaA2 — The signature Finnish counting rule — every cardinal above one governs the partitive singular of the counted noun, which stays singular: kaksi kissaa, sata euroa.
- Partitive After Numbers: kolme taloaA1 — Every number above yksi takes the partitive singular — kaksi kissaa, sata euroa — and the noun stays singular even when the whole phrase declines.
- Partitive After Quantity Words: paljon, vähän, pariA2 — Quantity and measure words govern the partitive: paljon rahaa, vähän vettä, kilo omenoita — mass nouns stay singular, countable ones go plural.
- Ablative -lta/-ltä: 'from (off)'A1 — The ablative -lta/-ltä means motion off a surface or away from a place or person — pöydältä, torilta, ystävältä — plus clock times and 'looks/sounds like'.