Word
Olen kirjastossa ja etsin runoja.
Meaning
I am in the library and looking for poems.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Olen kirjastossa ja etsin runoja.
Why is the word for poems runoja here instead of the regular plural runot?
runoja is in the partitive plural. We use the partitive case because the verb etsiä (to look for) requires it for the object you are searching for. Since you are looking for an unspecified number of poems, we use the plural partitive instead of the singular runoa.
How is the partitive plural formed for the word runo?
The basic word is runo (poem). For words that end in the vowels -o, -ö, -u, or -y, forming the partitive plural is very simple: you just attach the ending -ja or -jä. Since runo contains back vowels, we add -ja, resulting in runoja.
Does the verb etsiä (to look for) always require the partitive case?
Yes! etsiä is a classic partitive verb. In Finnish, if an action is ongoing or incomplete, like searching for something you haven't found yet, the object must be in the partitive case.
Why is the word minä (I) missing before olen and etsin?