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Finnish

### The Partitive Case for Mass Nouns

Finnish uses the **partitive case** for uncountable things like liquids, foods, and materials. Where English uses "some" (like "some coffee"), Finnish expresses this by changing the noun's ending.

### Adding -a or -ä

For most nouns ending in a single short vowel, add **-a** or **-ä**. Following vowel harmony rules, words with back vowels (**a**, **o**, **u**) take **-a**. Words with front vowels (**ä**, **ö**, **y**) or only neutral vowels (**e**, **i**) take **-ä**.

- **kahvi** (coffee) becomes **kahvia**
- **suola** (salt) becomes **suolaa**
- **mehu** (juice) becomes **mehua**
- **viini** (wine) becomes **viiniä**

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### Adding -ta or -tä

If a noun ends in two vowels (a long vowel or a diphthong), add **-ta** or **-tä**.

- **tee** (tea) becomes **teetä**
- **suklaa** (chocolate) becomes **suklaata**

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### Quantities and Amounts

Use the partitive for unspecified amounts of a mass noun, or after quantity words like **vähän** (a little).

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### Possession and Actions

Mass nouns also take the partitive when they are possessed, part of a negative sentence (like "I do not have..."), or the object of an action involving an unspecified amount (like buying "some" coffee).

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The partitive singular (-a/-ä, -ta/-tä)

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)

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)

Partitive plural (-ita / -itä)

Question	Answer
coffee	kahvi
This is coffee.	Tämä on kahvia.
salt	suola
This is not salt.	Tämä ei ole suolaa.
juice	mehu
wine	viini
Is this juice or wine?	Onko tämä mehua vai viiniä?
tea	tee
There is tea on the table.	Pöydällä on teetä.
chocolate	suklaa
The child is waiting for chocolate.	Lapsi odottaa suklaata.
sugar	sokeri
There is sugar in the coffee.	Kahvissa on sokeria.
a little	vähän
There is a little salt in the food.	Ruoassa on vähän suolaa.
money	raha
Do you have money?	Onko sinulla rahaa?
We do not have money.	Meillä ei ole rahaa.
to buy	ostaa
I often buy wine.	Minä ostan usein viiniä.
The boy is buying juice now.	Poika ostaa nyt mehua.
There is still tea in the cup.	Kupissa on vielä teetä.
They are buying chocolate today.	He ostavat tänään suklaata.
I do not have sugar anymore.	Minulla ei ole enää sokeria.
I buy a little coffee and sugar.	Minä ostan vähän kahvia ja sokeria.