Counting Things
In Finnish, when you have exactly one of something, use yksi (one) followed by the basic dictionary form of the noun.
| I have only one bottle. | Minulla on vain yksi pullo. |
However, for any number greater than one (kaksi, kolme, neljä...), the noun that follows must be in the partitive singular case.
Adding the Partitive Ending
The most common way to form the partitive singular is to add -a or -ä to the end of the word:
- omena (apple) → omenaa
- pullo (bottle) → pulloa
- kirja (book) → kirjaa
| I have two apples. | Minulla on kaksi omenaa. |
| He buys four pens and three books. | Hän ostaa neljä kynää ja kolme kirjaa. |
| Here are three bottles and four bananas. | Täällä on kolme pulloa ja neljä banaania. |
Money, Time, and Occurrences
This counting rule applies to everything you count, including currency, amounts of time, and how many times something happens:
- euro (euro) → euroa
- päivä (day) → päivää
- kerta (time/occurrence) → kertaa
| One apple costs only two euros. | Yksi omena maksaa vain kaksi euroa. |
| I wait here for five days. | Odotan täällä viisi päivää. |
| The child asks five times. | Lapsi kysyy viisi kertaa. |
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