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### The Partitive Plural (-ita / -itä)

Use the **-ita** and **-itä** endings to form the partitive plural for certain longer words and vowel combinations. You will use these often when requesting indefinite amounts of hotel amenities, or stating that something is missing with the verb *puuttua* (to be missing).

For words ending in **-e**, like *pyyhe* (towel) and *esite* (brochure), the stem ends in **-ee-**. Drop one **-e-** and add **-itä** to form **-eitä** (note that *pyyhe* also undergoes consonant gradation to become *pyyhkeitä*).

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### Longer Words and Vowel Changes

For many words with three or more syllables ending in **-a**, the final vowel changes to **-o-** before adding the **-ita** ending. For example, *saippua* (soap) becomes *saippuoita*.

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Adjectives ending in **-eä**, like *pehmeä* (soft), simply drop the final **-ä** before adding **-itä** (*pehmeitä*). Combine this with a longer word like *lakana* (sheet), which becomes *lakanoita*.

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The same **-oita** rule applies to words ending in **-ia**, such as *astia* (dish) and *pistorasia* (socket). The final **-a** changes to **-o-**, resulting in **-ioita**.

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### Bringing It Together

Professional titles with three or more syllables, like *virkailija* (clerk), also follow the **-a** to **-oita** rule.

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Remember that adjectives and nouns must agree. Notice how *pehmeä* and the **-e** word *lisävuode* (extra bed) match in the partitive plural (*pehmeitä lisävuoteita*), and how different words take their respective plural endings when listed together.

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Partitive plural (-ita / -itä)

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
to be missing	puuttua
towel	pyyhe
Towels are missing from the bathroom.	Kylpyhuoneesta puuttuu pyyhkeitä.
We need more clean towels.	Tarvitsemme lisää puhtaita pyyhkeitä.
soap	saippua
brochure	esite
Do you need soaps or brochures?	Tarvitsetteko saippuoita tai esitteitä?
Soaps are missing from the cabinet.	Kaapista puuttuu saippuoita.
Can you bring more brochures?	Voitteko tuoda lisää esitteitä?
soft	pehmeä
sheet	lakana
The hotel has soft sheets.	Hotellissa on pehmeitä lakanoita.
The customer needed new sheets yesterday.	Asiakas tarvitsi uusia lakanoita eilen.
dish	astia
Are dishes missing from the cabinet?	Puuttuuko kaapista astioita?
We do not have clean dishes.	Meillä ei ole puhtaita astioita.
extra bed	lisävuode
Do you have soft extra beds?	Onko teillä pehmeitä lisävuoteita?
There are no extra beds here.	Täällä ei ole lisävuoteita.
socket	pistorasia
Does the room lack sockets?	Puuttuuko huoneesta pistorasioita?
We need more sockets here.	Tarvitsemme tänne lisää pistorasioita.
clerk	virkailija
They are clerks.	He ovat virkailijoita.
We are looking for clerks.	Etsimme virkailijoita.
I am asking for clean towels and sheets.	Pyydän puhtaita pyyhkeitä ja lakanoita.
The clerks help the customers.	Virkailijat auttavat asiakkaita.