Indefinite Pronouns: Joku and Jokin
The Finnish pronouns joku (someone, anybody) and jokin (something, anything) are essential for expressing uncertainty. Generally, joku is used for people, while jokin is used for things and animals.
| The sender of the package was someone unknown. It was a big mystery. | Paketin lähettäjä oli joku tuntematon. Se oli iso arvoitus. |
Genitive and Partitive Cases
Like other Finnish pronouns, joku and jokin inflect to match their grammatical role in a sentence.
- The genitive forms are jonkun (someone's) and jonkin (something's). Notice how both halves of the word take an -n ending.
- The partitive form of jokin is jotakin.
| The paper had the signature of some unknown person. | Paperissa oli jonkun tuntemattoman ihmisen allekirjoitus. |
| Did you already figure out the content of some package? | Selvititkö jo jonkin paketin sisällön? |
| The mysterious content was something very exciting. | Salaperäinen sisältö oli jotakin hyvin jännittävää. |
Local Cases
When adding location or directional cases (like "to", "from", or "in"), the two pronouns follow different structural rules:
- For jokin, insert the case ending right before the -kin suffix (e.g., jo-sta-kin, jo-hon-kin).
- For joku, the formal rule requires both halves of the word to inflect (e.g., jolle-kulle).
| Case | joku (someone) | jokin (something) |
|---|---|---|
| Illative (into) | johonkuhun | johonkin |
| Elative (out of) | jostakusta | jostakin |
| Allative (to) | jollekulle | jollekin |
| Ablative (from) | joltakulta | joltakin |
A helpful shortcut: In everyday Finnish, the local cases of jokin (like jostakin and joltakin) are frequently used for both people and things, as the formal joku equivalents can sound overly heavy. However, some forms like jollekulle remain very common for people.
| The curious child wanted to believe in something. | Utelias lapsi halusi uskoa johonkin. |
| The sender is from some unknown city. | Lähettäjä on kotoisin jostakin tuntemattomasta kaupungista. |
| We gave the mysterious box to someone unknown. | Me annoimme salaperäisen laatikon jollekulle tuntemattomalle. |
| The package is from someone unknown, but I have a guess. | Paketti on joltakin tuntemattomalta, mutta minulla on arvaus. |
Bringing It Together
When multiple unknown elements are at play, you will often use both pronouns in the same sentence.
| There is something mysterious in this package, and someone's guess is wrong. | Tässä paketissa on jotakin salaperäistä, ja jonkun arvaus on väärä. |