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Finnish

### Existential Clauses with Mass Nouns

In Finnish, when you want to state that something exists in a particular place (like saying "There is..." or "There are..." in English), you use an **existential clause**. These sentences typically follow a specific word order:

**Location + *on* + Subject**

When describing an undefined amount of an uncountable substance, material, or ingredient (a mass noun), the subject must be in the **partitive singular** case. Notice that the verb is always *on* (is), in the third-person singular.

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If there are multiple ingredients, the verb remains *on*. Any adjectives describing the mass noun must also match it in the partitive case.

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### Plural Subjects in Existential Clauses

When you want to express the existence of an undefined number of countable things (like "some cookies" or "cinnamon rolls"), you use the **partitive plural**.

The most important rule for Finnish existential clauses is that **the verb remains strictly singular (*on*)**, even when the subject is plural. You must never use the plural verb *ovat* in this structure.

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To turn an existential clause into a yes/no question, start the sentence with *onko* (is there / are there), followed by the location, and then the partitive subject.

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Location and existence (partitive subjects)

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
flour	jauho
There is flour on the table.	Pöydällä on jauhoa.
bowl	kulho
There is sugar in the small bowl.	Pienessä kulhossa on sokeria.
dough	taikina
Why is there dough on the table?	Miksi pöydällä on taikinaa?
yeast	hiiva
There is fresh yeast and flour in the bowl.	Kulhossa on tuoretta hiivaa ja jauhoa.
There is still yeast and dough in the fridge.	Jääkaapissa on vielä hiivaa ja taikinaa.
cinnamon	kaneli
There is cinnamon in the jar.	Purkissa on kanelia.
cinnamon roll	korvapuusti
There are delicious cinnamon rolls in the bakery.	Leipomossa on herkullisia korvapuusteja.
bread roll	sämpylä
There are warm cinnamon rolls and bread rolls on the tables.	Pöydillä on lämpimiä korvapuusteja ja sämpylöitä.
Are there also bread rolls in the basket?	Onko korissa myös sämpylöitä?
cookie	keksi
There are nut-free cookies in the box.	Laatikossa on pähkinättömiä keksejä.
There are sweet cookies on the shelf.	Hyllyllä on makeita keksejä.
nut	pähkinä
Don't eat those cookies, because there are nuts in them!	Älä syö noita keksejä, koska niissä on pähkinöitä!
almond	manteli
Are there nuts or almonds in the dough?	Onko taikinassa pähkinöitä tai manteleita?
Are there almonds in the cabinet?	Onko kaapissa manteleita?
There is butter and sugar in the dough.	Taikinassa on voita ja sokeria.
There is cinnamon and sugar in the dough.	Taikinassa on kanelia ja sokeria.