Breakdown of Tämä maljakko on vanhaa posliinia, jota rakastan.
tämä
this
olla
to be
vanha
old
rakastaa
to love
joka
who / which (relative pronoun)
maljakko
vase
posliini
porcelain
Questions & Answers about Tämä maljakko on vanhaa posliinia, jota rakastan.
Why is the relative pronoun jota in the partitive case here?
The case of a relative pronoun depends on its role in its own clause. Here, jota is the object of the verb rakastaa (to love). Because rakastaa is a partitive verb, it requires its object to be in the partitive case.
Why are the words vanhaa and posliinia in the partitive case?
When describing an uncountable material or mass noun (like porcelain, water, or wood), Finnish uses the partitive case for the description. Since the vase is made of an uncountable material, the base words vanha posliini become vanhaa posliinia.
What is the basic dictionary form of jota?
The basic (nominative) form is joka. You will see it change shape depending on what role it plays in the relative clause, such as jota for the partitive singular.
If I wanted to say 'which I like' instead of 'which I love', would I still use jota?
No. The verb pitää (to like) requires the elative case, which ends in -sta or -stä. So you would say josta pidän instead of jota rakastan. This shows how the verb inside the relative clause completely controls the case of the relative pronoun!
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