Exclusive Group Size (-staan/-stään)
When you want to express that an action is performed by a specific, isolated number of people—such as "just the two of us" or "the three of them"—Finnish uses special adverbs of exclusive group size.
To form these, take the stem of the number and add the suffix -staan or -stään (following vowel harmony rules).
For example, kaksi (two) has the stem kahde-, making kahdestaan. The number kolme (three) has the stem kolme-, becoming kolmestaan.
| The two of us went to see the puppet theatre. | Kävimme katsomassa nukketeatteria kahdestaan. |
| The three of us are behind the screen with the marionettes. | Olemme kolmestaan sermin takana marionettien kanssa. |
Context Determines the Group
These adverbs do not specify who makes up the group. They can translate to "the [number] of us," "the [number] of you," or "the [number] of them" depending entirely on the subject or the verb's personal ending.
Notice how the suffix attaches to the stems of neljä (four) and viisi (five):
| The four of them pulled the strings as the play progressed. | He vetivät naruja neljästään sitä mukaa kun näytelmä edistyi. |
| The five of us are moving the heavy stage sets in the puppet theatre. | Liikutamme viidestään raskaita lavasteita nukketeatterissa. |
You can easily use multiple group size adverbs in the same sentence to contrast different arrangements.
| The four of us cannot be behind the screen, so the three of us will perform. | Emme voi olla sermin takana neljästään, joten esiinnymme kolmestaan. |