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Finnish

### The "-free" Suffix (-ton / -tön)

To describe something as being without a specific ingredient or quality—like "gluten-free" or "meatless"—Finnish uses the suffix **-ton** or **-tön**. Vowel harmony dictates the form: use **-ton** if the word contains back vowels (*a, o, u*), and **-tön** otherwise.

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### The Partitive Form (-tonta / -töntä)

When discussing mass nouns (uncountable foods and liquids) or negative sentences, you will frequently need the partitive case. Adjectives ending in *-ton* or *-tön* become **-tonta** or **-töntä** in the partitive.

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### Word Stems and Consonant Gradation

The suffix attaches to a word's inflected stem (the same stem used for the genitive). If the noun undergoes consonant gradation, it uses its "weak" form. 

For instance, the *t* in *maito* (milk) softens to a *d* in the stem *maido-*, giving us *maidoton*.

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Whether you are grocery shopping or checking a menu, these forms follow a highly predictable pattern:

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Vowel harmony rules apply identically to the partitive endings, as seen with the front vowels in *pähkinä* (nut):

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### Beyond Food

This suffix also works for abstract concepts and lifestyle choices. For example, *tarve* means "a need," making **tarpeeton** "unnecessary" or "needless."

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Adjectives of lack (-ton / -tön)

adjective

adposition

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

postposition

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Demonstrative pronouns (tämä, tuo, se)

Singular personal pronouns (minä, sinä, hän)

Plural personal pronouns (me, te, he)

Plural demonstratives (nämä, nuo, ne)

Coordinating conjunctions (ja, mutta, tai)

Yes/no questions (-ko / -kö)

Basic question words (kuka, mikä, missä)

Negation of to be (en ole, ei ole)

The inessive case (-ssa / -ssä)

Double consonant gradation (kk, pp, tt)

Consonant gradation (-ssa/-ssä)

Verb Type 1 (puhun, puhut, puhuu)

Verb Type 1 with consonant gradation

Negative verbs (en puhu, et lue)

External location (-lla/-llä)

There is / there are (kaupungissa on)

Possession (minulla on)

Numbers 1 to 10 (yksi, kaksi, kolme)

The partitive singular (-a/-ä, -ta/-tä)

Quantities with numbers (kaksi autoa)

Negative possession (ei ole)

Numbers 11 to 100 and 1000

Partitive verbs

Partitive personal pronouns (minua, sinua)

Verb Type 2 (-da/-dä)

Partitive for mass nouns (-a/-ä, -ta/-tä)

Partitive for negative objects

Adjective agreement

Verb Type 3

The elative case (-sta/-stä)

Negative possession (minulla ei ole…)

The illative case (-Vn, -hVn, -seen)

Numbers 21 to 99

Static vs. movement verbs

Verb Type 4 (-Vta / -Vtä)

Verb Type 5 (-ita / -itä)

Genitive singular for possession (-n)

Total object (-n)

Accusative personal pronouns (-t)

Obligation (täytyy)

Into places (-Vn, -hVn, -seen)

Postpositions with the genitive

My and your (-ni, -si)

Onto and to someone (-lle)

From someone or somewhere (-lta, -ltä)

Telling time (kello on...)

Months of the year (-ssa, -ssä)

Days of the week (-na, -nä)

When and why (milloin, miksi)

The illative case (mihin, -Vn, -hVn, -seen)

Past tense of to be (olin, olit, oli)

The seasons (kevät, kesä, syksy, talvi)

The imperative mood (lue!, syö!, mene!)

The past tense of to be (olin, oli)

The illative case (-hVn, -seen)

Greetings and goodbyes (hei, näkemiin)

Thank you and sorry (kiitos, anteeksi)

Liking things (pitää / tykätä + -sta/-stä)

Temporary states and roles (-na/-nä)

Change of state (-ksi)

Ongoing actions (-massa/-mässä)

Going to do an action (-maan/-mään)

Returning from an action (-masta/-mästä)

Third-person possessives (-nsa/-nsä or -Vn)

Plural possessives (-mme, -nne)

Indefinite pronouns (joku, jokin, kaikki)

Negative indefinite pronouns (ei kukaan, ei mikään)

Commands for verb types 4 and 5

Adverb formation (-sti)

Past tense for verb type 1 (-i-)

Past tense vowel changes for verb type 1 (-o- / -i-)

Past tense for verb type 2 (-i-)

Past tense for verb type 3 (-i-)

Past tense for verb type 4 (-si-)

Past tense for verb type 5 (-itsi-)

Past tense consonant gradation

Past participles for verb types 1 and 2 (-nut / -nyt)

Past participle singular for verb types 3-5 (-nnut, -llut)

Active past participle plural (-neet)

Past tense negative (en mennyt, emme olleet)

The perfect tense (olen ollut)

The perfect tense negative (en ole nähnyt)

Total plural objects (-t)

Partitive plural (-ia / -iä)

Partitive plural (-ja / -jä)

Question	Answer
gluten-free	gluteeniton
Is this bread gluten-free?	Onko tämä leipä gluteeniton?
Isn't there gluten-free food in the restaurant?	Eikö ravintolassa ole gluteenitonta ruokaa?
allergic	allerginen
dairy-free	maidoton
Are you allergic, or why do you want dairy-free soup?	Oletko allerginen, vai miksi haluat maidotonta keittoa?
This chocolate is really dairy-free.	Tämä suklaa on todella maidotonta.
diet	ruokavalio
meatless	lihaton
vegetarian	kasvissyöjä
His diet is meatless, because he is a vegetarian.	Hänen ruokavalionsa on lihaton, koska hän on kasvissyöjä.
We have eaten meatless food all week.	Olemme syöneet lihatonta ruokaa koko viikon.
sugar-free	sokeriton
I buy sugar-free candy from the store.	Ostan sokeritonta karkkia kaupasta.
You do not need to choose a sugar-free cake.	Sinun ei tarvitse valita sokeritonta kakkua.
fat-free	rasvaton
I usually drink fat-free milk.	Juon tavallisesti rasvatonta maitoa.
Isn't that cheese fat-free?	Eikö tuo juusto ole rasvatonta?
lactose-free	laktoositon
My diet is lactose-free now.	Minun ruokavalioni on nyt laktoositon.
Mother does not need to buy lactose-free ice cream.	Äidin ei tarvitse ostaa laktoositonta jäätelöä.
alcohol-free	alkoholiton
I have ordered alcohol-free wine for us.	Olen tilannut meille alkoholitonta viiniä.
Is this beer alcohol-free?	Onko tämä olut alkoholiton?
nut-free	pähkinätön
Isn't this cake nut-free?	Eikö tämä kakku ole pähkinätön?
I buy nut-free bread because I am allergic.	Ostan pähkinätöntä leipää, koska olen allerginen.
I have been a vegetarian for two years.	Olen ollut kasvissyöjä kaksi vuotta.
Is your diet really strict?	Onko sinun ruokavaliosi tosi tiukka?
unnecessary	tarpeeton
Have they sold all the unnecessary stuff?	Ovatko he myyneet kaiken tarpeettoman tavaran?
We do not need to save unnecessary stuff.	Meidän ei tarvitse säästää tarpeetonta tavaraa.