Beyond space and time, a set of Finnish postpositions handles attribution — pointing to a source, an opinion, a viewpoint, or a cause. These are the words you reach for to say "according to the news", "in my opinion", "from an economic standpoint", "because of the weather". All of them govern the genitive, and mastering them is what lets you write and argue like an educated native: cite sources, hedge opinions, and assign causes precisely. The subtlest point — and the one that separates confident B2 speakers from the rest — is how Finnish carves up the single English phrase "according to".
The core reference postpositions
| Postposition | Meaning | Example (genitive + postposition) |
|---|---|---|
| mukaan | according to (a source) | uutisten mukaan |
| mielestä | in the opinion of | minun mielestäni |
| kannalta | from the standpoint of | talouden kannalta |
| takia / vuoksi | because of | sään takia |
| ansiosta | thanks to (a positive cause) | sinun ansiostasi |
Tutkimuksen mukaan suomalaiset juovat eniten kahvia maailmassa.
According to a study, Finns drink the most coffee in the world.
Minun mielestäni tämä elokuva on aivan liian pitkä.
In my opinion this film is far too long.
Talouden kannalta päätös oli täysin järkevä.
From an economic standpoint the decision was entirely sensible.
mukaan vs mielestä: the "according to" split
English uses "according to" for two different things, and Finnish keeps them strictly apart:
- mukaan is evidential: it cites a source of information — a report, a document, an authority, a person quoted as knowing a fact. "According to the news / the law / the study / Maija (who told me)."
- mielestä is subjective: it voices an opinion or evaluation. "In my / her / the experts' view."
The test is whether what follows is a fact being reported (→ mukaan) or a judgment being offered (→ mielestä):
Uutisten mukaan hinnat nousevat ensi vuonna.
According to the news, prices will rise next year.
Asiantuntijoiden mielestä ilmasto lämpenee liian nopeasti.
In the experts' opinion the climate is warming too quickly.
The same person can appear with either word, and the choice changes the meaning. Maijan mukaan juna lähtee viideltä reports Maija as a source ("Maija says the train leaves at five"); Maijan mielestä juna on liian hidas gives her opinion ("Maija thinks the train is too slow").
Opinion words carry a possessive suffix
Because mielestä almost always refers to someone's opinion, it very frequently takes a possessive suffix, exactly like the pronoun-plus-postposition pattern on the with-possessive page. The genitive pronoun in front is usually optional; the suffix is not:
| Person | "in ... opinion" |
|---|---|
| minä | (minun) mielestäni |
| sinä | (sinun) mielestäsi |
| hän | (hänen) mielestään |
| me | (meidän) mielestämme |
Hänen mielestään koko ehdotus oli huono alusta asti.
In his opinion the whole proposal was bad from the start.
Mielestäni meidän pitäisi lähteä nyt.
I think we should leave now.
Note the doubled vowel in the third person: mielestä → mielestään (two ä's). Takia and ansiosta pick up suffixes the same way — sinun takiasi ("because of you"), sinun ansiostasi ("thanks to you").
Causes: takia, vuoksi, ansiosta, johdosta
Finnish has a small family of "because of" postpositions, all on the genitive, and the choice is a matter of register and polarity:
- takia — neutral, everyday cause. (informal-leaning but universal)
- vuoksi — neutral to (formal); interchangeable with takia in most contexts.
- johdosta — (formal), bureaucratic and official prose.
- ansiosta — a positive cause, "thanks to". Never use it for something bad.
Juna oli myöhässä lakon takia.
The train was late because of the strike.
Konsertti peruttiin sairauden vuoksi.
The concert was cancelled due to illness.
Pääsimme perille ajoissa sinun ansiostasi.
We got there on time thanks to you.
Saying sairauden ansiosta ("thanks to the illness") would be jarring — ansiosta is reserved for outcomes you welcome, so match it only to good causes.
Orthographic traps
The genitive in front of these postpositions hides two things learners drop:
- Plural genitives in -ten / -den: uutinen → uutiset → uutisten ("according to the news"), asiantuntija → asiantuntijoiden ("the experts'"). News prose is full of these.
- Short stems that still take a genitive -n: sää → sään ("weather"), laki → lain ("law"), sade → sateen ("rain"), whose stem shows d → t gradation.
Sään mukaan pukeutuminen on Suomessa taitolaji.
Dressing according to the weather is an art form in Finland.
Lain mukaan kaikilla on oikeus koulutukseen.
Under the law, everyone has the right to education.
Common Mistakes
❌ Minun mukaani tämä on väärin.
Incorrect — for your own opinion use mielestäni, not mukaani (which reports a source): minun mielestäni.
✅ Minun mielestäni tämä on väärin.
In my opinion this is wrong.
❌ Uutiset mukaan sataa huomenna.
Incorrect — mukaan needs the genitive: uutisten mukaan.
✅ Uutisten mukaan sataa huomenna.
According to the news, it will rain tomorrow.
❌ Hänen mielestä ehdotus oli huono.
Incorrect — the opinion word needs the possessive suffix: hänen mielestään.
✅ Hänen mielestään ehdotus oli huono.
In his opinion the proposal was bad.
❌ Konsertti peruttiin sairauden ansiosta.
Incorrect — ansiosta is for good causes; for a bad one use takia/vuoksi: sairauden vuoksi.
✅ Konsertti peruttiin sairauden vuoksi.
The concert was cancelled due to illness.
Key Takeaways
- Reference postpositions all take the genitive: uutisten mukaan, minun mielestäni, talouden kannalta, sään takia.
- mukaan reports a factual source (evidential); mielestä voices an opinion (subjective). The same person flips meaning between them.
- For your own view, use mielestäni, never mukaani.
- Opinion and cause words take possessive suffixes: mielestäni, hänen mielestään, sinun takiasi, sinun ansiostasi.
- Among the causes, ansiosta ("thanks to") is for positive outcomes only; takia / vuoksi / johdosta are neutral, rising in formality.
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Start learning Finnish→Related Topics
- Postpositions Govern the GenitiveA1 — Most Finnish adpositions come AFTER the noun and demand it in the genitive: talon edessä, pöydän alla. The genitive -n is obligatory — and it triggers consonant gradation.
- Postpositions with Possessive Suffixes: edessäniB1 — When a pronoun precedes a Finnish postposition, use the genitive pronoun plus a possessive suffix: minun edessäni, sinun vieressäsi, hänen takanaan.
- Clitic Particles: An OverviewA2 — An overview of Finnish enclitic particles — -ko/-kö, -kin, -kaan/-kään, -han/-hän, -pa/-pä, -s — how they attach, harmonize, and stack.
- Uses of the Genitive Beyond PossessionB1 — The genitive also marks the subject of 'must' verbs, sits before every postposition, spells the total object, and builds measure and time phrases.