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Finnish

### Reciprocal Pronouns: Each Other

To express that people do something to "each other," Finnish formally uses a distributive structure that repeats the word **toinen**. 

This structure has two parts:
1. **toinen** (always in the basic nominative form)
2. **toinen** declined into the case required by the sentence, plus a **possessive suffix** matching the subject.

The possessive suffix changes depending on who is acting:
- **me** (we) adds **-mme**
- **te** (you plural) adds **-nne**
- **he / plural nouns** (they) add **-nsa / -nsä** or **-Vn** (a lengthened vowel + n)

#### The Partitive Form

If the verb takes a partitive object, or if it is used with a postposition that requires the partitive (like **vastaan**, meaning "against"), the second **toinen** becomes **toista** plus the suffix. 

For third-person plural subjects (like *miekkailijat*, the fencers), the form is **toinen toistaan** (*toista* + *an*).

{{item:969525}}

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#### Adapting to Other Cases

If the verb or context requires a different case, the second **toinen** takes that case ending before the possessive suffix.

**Illative (into):**
Verbs like **luottaa** (to trust) require the illative case (**toiseen**). 

{{item:969533}}

**Ablative (from):**
Used when learning *from* someone (**toiselta**). If the subject is **me**, we add **-mme**.

{{item:969536}}

**Genitive (Possession):**
When expressing "each other's", the second **toinen** takes the genitive form (**toisen**). The genitive **-n** drops before possessive suffixes (e.g., *toisen* + *mme* becomes **toisemme**).

{{item:969539}}

**Allative (to):**
Used when bowing or speaking *to* someone (**toiselle**). For a third-person plural subject, it becomes **toiselleen** (*toiselle* + *en*).

{{item:969540}}

#### Matching Other Persons

As seen in the ablative and genitive examples above, the possessive suffix always matches the subject. This rule naturally applies to the partitive case as well. For a subject like **te** (you plural), **toista** takes the suffix **-nne**.

{{item:969542}}

Reciprocal pronouns (toinen toistaan)

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
the fencer	miekkailija
The fencers respect each other.	Miekkailijat kunnioittavat toinen toistaan.
the fighter	ottelija
to spar	sparrata
the ring	kehä
The fighters spar in the ring against each other.	Ottelijat sparraavat kehässä toinen toistaan vastaan.
unarmed	aseeton
the martial artist	kamppailija
The unarmed martial artists observe each other.	Aseettomat kamppailijat tarkkailevat toinen toistaan.
I know that the martial artists trust each other.	Tiedän, että kamppailijat luottavat toinen toiseensa.
the technique	tekniikka
the tatami	tatami
We learn new techniques from each other on the tatami.	Me opimme uusia tekniikoita toinen toiseltamme tatamilla.
to fence	miekkailla
the reflex	refleksi
When we fence, we test each other's reflexes.	Kun me miekkailemme, me testaamme toinen toisemme refleksejä.
The fighters bow to each other.	Ottelijat kumartavat toinen toiselleen.
Good technique, they teach to each other.	Hyvää tekniikkaa he opettavat toinen toiselleen.
You support each other in the ring.	Te tuette toinen toistanne kehässä.
Fast reflexes protect the fencers from each other.	Nopeat refleksit suojaavat miekkailijoita toinen toiseltaan.
They fight on the tatami against each other.	He taistelevat tatamilla toinen toistaan vastaan.
The unarmed fighters strike towards each other.	Aseettomat ottelijat iskevät toinen toistaan kohti.
The fighters spar each other.	Ottelijat sparraavat toinen toistaan.
The fencers fence against each other.	Miekkailijat miekkailevat toinen toistaan vastaan.
to kiss	suudella
They kissed each other at the station.	He suutelivat toisiaan asemalla.
The couple kissed in front of the church.	Pari suuteli kirkon edessä.

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