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Questions & Answers about Minulla on uusi kamera repussa.
Why is it Minulla and not minä?
Finnish expresses “have” with a locative possessor: minä (I) + adessive case -lla → minulla (“at me”). The pattern Minulla on X literally means “At me is X,” i.e., “I have X.” Using minä here would be ungrammatical.
Why is the verb on and not olen?
In the possessive/existential construction, Finnish uses the 3rd person singular of “to be”: on. You say Minulla on…, not Minä olen…, because the verb agrees with the “existing thing,” not the possessor.
What case is uusi kamera, and why?
It’s nominative singular. In these Minulla on sentences, the item you “have” is in the nominative if it’s a whole, countable thing.
- Whole item: Minulla on uusi kamera (repussa).
- Some quantity/unspecified amount or plural “some”: Minulla on uusia kameroita (repussa). In negation, the item goes to partitive:
- Minulla ei ole uutta kameraa (repussa).
Why can’t I say Minulla on uuden kameran?
Because in existential/possessive clauses with olla, the thing that “exists” with the possessor is nominative (or partitive), not genitive/accusative. Uuden kameran would be genitive/accusative and is ungrammatical here.
What exactly does repussa mean, and how is it formed?
Repussa = “in the backpack.” It’s reppu (backpack) + inessive case -ssa (“in”). Two key points:
- Consonant gradation: pp → p before many endings, so reppu → repussa (not “reppussa”).
- Vowel harmony: -ssa (not -ssä) because the word has back vowels.
Whose backpack is it? How do I say “in my backpack”?
Repussa just means “in a/the backpack” (unspecified). To say “in my backpack,” use a possessive:
- With suffix: repussani
- With pronoun + suffix (more explicit/emphatic): minun repussani Example: Minulla on uusi kamera repussani.
Is the word order Minulla on repussa uusi kamera possible? Any difference?
Yes. Both are grammatical:
- Minulla on uusi kamera repussa. (neutral; the location can feel like an afterthought)
- Minulla on repussa uusi kamera. (often makes “new camera” feel more focal/new information) Finnish word order reflects information structure; both convey the same facts.
How do I say “My new camera is in the backpack” (not “I have…”)
Use a regular subject-predicate sentence:
- Uusi kamerani on repussa.
- More explicit: Minun uusi kamerani on repussa. If you want to emphasize the location: Repussani on uusi kamera. (“In my backpack there is a new camera.”)
Do I need yksi to mean “a new camera”?
No. Finnish has no articles. Uusi kamera = “a new camera.” Use yksi only if you want to stress the number “one”:
- Minulla on yksi uusi kamera = I have one (exactly one) new camera.
What happens in the plural? Does the verb change to ovat?
The verb stays on in existential sentences:
- Minulla on uudet kamerat repussa. (I have the new cameras in the backpack.)
- Minulla on uusia kameroita repussa. (I have some new cameras in the backpack.) Using ovat here would be wrong. If you make the cameras the grammatical subject, then you use ovat:
- Uudet kamerat ovat repussa.
How does negation work with this sentence?
Use ei ole, and the “had” item becomes partitive:
- Minulla ei ole uutta kameraa repussa.
- With plural “some”: Minulla ei ole uusia kameroita repussa.
- With a possessed backpack: Minulla ei ole uutta kameraa repussani.
Can I drop Minulla and just say On uusi kamera repussa?
That sounds incomplete. If you want a “there is” sentence, put the location first:
- Repussa on uusi kamera. (There is a new camera in the backpack.) If you want to keep the possessor, use Minulla on…
Why is the adjective uusi in that form? Should it ever be uutta or uuden?
It agrees with the noun’s case and number.
- Nominative: uusi kamera (used here)
- Partitive: uutta kameraa (e.g., in negation or “some (amount of) camera,” which is odd; but with mass nouns it’s normal: uutta kahvia)
- Genitive: uuden kameran (used with other structures, not after Minulla on)
How do the related location cases work with reppu?
- Inessive (in): repussa = in the backpack
- Elative (out of): repusta = out of the backpack
- Illative (into): reppuun = into the backpack Examples:
- Otan kameran repusta. (I take the camera out of the backpack.)
- Laitan kameran reppuun. (I put the camera into the backpack.)
Is there a more colloquial way to say this?
In spoken Finnish you’ll hear reductions:
- Mulla on uus kamera repussa. Notes:
- mulla = colloquial for minulla
- uus = colloquial for uusi Standard writing prefers the original forms.
Can I also mark the camera as possessed by me?
Yes, but it changes the nuance. Minulla on already expresses possession. If you add a possessive suffix to the camera, it often reads as “my specific camera” rather than introducing a new one:
- Introducing a new item: Minulla on uusi kamera repussa.
- Referring to a known, specific one: Uusi kamerani on repussa. (My new camera is in the backpack.)