Possessive Suffixes: My and Your
In Finnish, ownership is often shown by attaching a possessive suffix directly to the end of the noun.
- -ni means "my"
- -si means "your"
For example, pää (head) becomes pääni (my head) or pääsi (your head).
| My head is sore. | Pääni on kipeä. |
| Why is your head sore? | Miksi pääsi on kipeä? |
You can attach these suffixes to any noun. Here are a few more examples using body parts:
| My eye is green. | Silmäni on vihreä. |
| Your back is strong. | Selkäsi on vahva. |
Stem Changes
When a noun ends in -i, its stem sometimes changes before you add a suffix.
For example, käsi (hand) changes its stem to käte-, making "my hand" käteni. Similarly, sormi (finger) changes to sorme-, making "your finger" sormesi.
| My hand is small. | Käteni on pieni. |
| Your finger is on the picture. | Sormesi on kuvan päällä. |
With Postpositions
You can also use these suffixes on nouns followed by postpositions, such as päällä (on).
| The dog is sleeping on my leg. | Koira nukkuu jalkani päällä. |
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