Questions & Answers about Minulla on sellainen.
Literally:
- minulla = on me (1st person singular in the adessive case)
- on = is
- sellainen = such / that kind (of thing) / one like that
So a very literal rendering is: “On me is one of that kind.”
Natural English: “I have one (like that).”
Finnish normally expresses possession with an existential construction, not with a verb “to have”.
Pattern:
[Adessive possessor] + on + [thing possessed]
- Minulla on auto. = I have a car. (literally: On me is a car.)
- Minulla on sellainen. = I have one like that.
There is a verb omistaa (to own), but it is more formal and used for legal/official ownership, not for everyday “have” in most contexts.
minä is the basic nominative form of I.
Minulla is the adessive case form, roughly meaning on me / at me.
In Finnish, when you say I have X, you don’t put I as a normal subject. Instead, you put I in the adessive case and say “On me is X”:
- Minä (nominative) → minulla (adessive)
- Minulla on sellainen. = I have one like that.
Minulla is in the adessive case (ending -lla / -llä).
The adessive most often expresses:
- physical location: pöydällä = on the table
- being “with” someone: minulla on kynä = I have a pen (literally on me is a pen)
- sometimes time or circumstances.
In possession, adessive + on is the standard pattern: Minulla on…, Sinulla on…, Hänellä on…
sellainen means “such,” “that kind,” “one like that.”
In this sentence, Minulla on sellainen can be understood as:
- I have that kind (of thing).
- I have one like that.
It refers to something already mentioned or indicated in the context.
Roughly:
- tämä = this (one right here)
- se = that / it (already known or mentioned)
- tällainen = this kind (of thing), one like this
- sellainen = that kind (of thing), one like that
Examples:
- Minulla on tämä. = I have this (specific thing here).
- Minulla on se. = I have it / that (specific one you know about).
- Minulla on tällainen. = I have one like this (kind). (maybe showing it)
- Minulla on sellainen. = I have one like that (kind). (referring to something the other person mentioned or pointed at, or to a type already in the conversation)
It can be both, depending on how it’s used.
As an adjective (before a noun, agreeing with it):
- sellainen auto = a car like that / such a car
- sellainen kirja = a book like that / such a book
As a pronoun (standing alone, like in Minulla on sellainen):
- I have one like that.
In your sentence, sellainen works as a pronoun: the noun is understood from context.
Use the negative existential construction and put sellainen in the partitive:
- Minulla ei ole sellaista.
Breakdown:
- minulla = on me
- ei ole = there is not (negative of on)
- sellaista = partitive of sellainen
Literal: On me is not one of that kind.
Natural: I don’t have one like that.
They are close in meaning but not identical:
Minulla on se.
- I have it / that (specific one).
- Refers to a particular item already clearly identified.
Minulla on sellainen.
- I have one like that / that kind (of thing).
- Emphasises the type or kind, not that exact individual item.
If someone shows you a type of phone and you have the same model:
- Minulla on sellainen. = I have a phone like that (same type).
If they ask “Do you have my phone?”: - Minulla on se. = I have that particular phone.
Yes, Finnish allows flexible word order, but the emphasis shifts.
Minulla on sellainen.
Neutral: I have one like that.Sellainen minulla on.
Emphasis on sellainen:
That kind is what I have. (implying maybe others don’t, or contrasting it with some other kind)
Both are grammatically correct; the original order is the most neutral in everyday speech.
You can say On sellainen, but the meaning changes:
- On sellainen. = There is such a thing / There is one like that.
It no longer clearly expresses who has it. It’s more like a general existential statement.
If the context makes it 100% clear you’re talking about yourself, people might still understand it as “(I) have one like that”, but grammatically it’s just “There is one like that.”
So, if you want to clearly say I have one, keep Minulla.
Commonly, people shorten minulla to mulla and sellainen to sellanen:
- Mulla on sellanen.
This is very typical in everyday speech, especially in southern/western dialect areas. The standard written form remains Minulla on sellainen.
Yes, sellainen inflects like an adjective/pronoun.
Singular (some common forms):
- nominative: sellainen (subject/basic form)
- partitive: sellaista
- genitive: sellaisen
- inessive: sellaisessa (in such a…)
Plural:
- nominative: sellaiset (such ones, those kinds)
- partitive: sellaisia
- genitive: sellaisten
Examples:
- Minulla on sellainen. = I have one like that.
- Minulla on sellaisia. = I have (some) like that / those kinds.
- Pidän sellaisista. = I like those kinds (of things).
No. Finnish has no grammatical gender like he/she/it, masculine/feminine.
sellainen does not change for gender at all; it only changes for case (sellaista, sellaisen, etc.) and number (sellainen vs. sellaiset).
A rough IPA transcription:
- Minulla on sellainen → /ˈminulːɑ on ˈselːɑinen/
Notes:
- Stress on the first syllable of each word: MI-nulla, ON, SEL-lainen.
- Double consonants (ll) are held slightly longer than single ones.
- The -nen at the end of sellainen sounds like -nen, not like an English -nen with a schwa; both vowels are clear.