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Finnish

### The Instructive Plural Case (-in)

Finnish has a grammatical case called the **instructive**, which is used to describe *how* or *by what means* an action is performed. While it is rarely used to create entirely new forms on the fly today, it survives as a vital part of the language in **fixed expressions of manner**.

To form the instructive, attach the ending **-in** to the **plural stem** of a word. Crucially, any modifying adjective must also agree with the noun, meaning both the adjective and the noun will take the **-in** ending.

| Base Phrase | English | Instructive Form | English Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| avoin mieli | open mind | avoimin mielin | with an open mind |
| oma silmä | own eye | omin silmin | with one's own eyes |
| oma sana | own word | omin sanoin | in one's own words |

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### Body Parts and Intense Effort

When giving eyewitness accounts or sharing firsthand experiences, physical descriptions often rely on the instructive plural. Notice how these expressions rarely use possessive suffixes, even when referring to body parts.

Phrases like *kynsin hampain* (tooth and nail, literally "with nails and teeth") and *kaikin voimin* (with all one's might) are commonly used to describe an action done with intense effort.

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### Adverbial Idioms

Many instructive phrases have completely fossilized into fixed adverbs of manner. Even if their literal translations feel a bit abstract—such as *suurin piirtein* (with large features) or *ehdoin tahdoin* (with terms and wills)—their figurative meanings are universally understood and used by Finnish speakers.

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The instructive plural case (-in)

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
open (adjective, attributive)	avoin
We listened to both the teacher and the students with an open mind.	Kuuntelimme sekä opettajaa että opiskelijoita avoimin mielin.
accident (serious accident, disaster)	onnettomuus
I saw the accident with my own eyes, but I did not believe it.	Näin onnettomuuden omin silmin, mutta en uskonut sitä.
detail	yksityiskohta
You explained both the accident and the details in your own words.	Selitit sekä onnettomuuden että yksityiskohdat omin sanoin.
nail (fingernail, toenail)	kynsi
We defended the child without help, tooth and nail.	Me puolustimme lasta ilman apua kynsin hampain.
The witness held on to the bag tooth and nail.	Todistaja piti laukusta kiinni kynsin hampain.
strength / force (legal validity, in 'tulla voimaan')	voima
She brought the bag, and I opened it with all my might.	Hän toi laukun, ja avasin sen kaikin voimin.
group (set, crowd, multitude)	joukko
Both the group and the police searched for the victim with all their might.	Sekä joukko että poliisi etsivät uhria kaikin voimin.
bare	paljas
The victim escaped from the forest barefoot, without a jacket.	Uhri pakeni metsästä paljain jaloin ilman takkia.
face	kasvot
The criminal took the bag bare-faced.	Rikollinen vei kassin paljain kasvoin.
feature (trait, characteristic)	piirre
The witness drank water and described the incident roughly.	Todistaja joi vettä ja kuvaili tapausta suurin piirtein.
We ate the snacks and understood the plan roughly.	Söimme eväät ja ymmärsimme suunnitelman suurin piirtein.
will	tahto
He did not break the window deliberately.	Hän ei rikkonut ikkunaa ehdoin tahdoin.
The child did not ruin the cake deliberately.	Lapsi ei pilannut kakkua ehdoin tahdoin.
She read both the message and the letter with an open mind.	Hän luki sekä viestin että kirjeen avoimin mielin.
People did not arrive at the scene in large numbers.	Ihmiset eivät saapuneet paikalle suurin joukoin.
The witness described the accident with precise details.	Todistaja kuvaili onnettomuutta tarkoin yksityiskohdin.
We listened to the story with sad faces.	Me kuuntelimme juttua surullisin kasvoin.