Minulla on kymmenen kirjaa kotona.

I have ten books at home.

Breakdown of Minulla on kymmenen kirjaa kotona.

• minä: I
• kotona: at home
• kirja: the book
• kymmenen: ten

Questions & Answers about Minulla on kymmenen kirjaa kotona.

Why does Finnish say Minulla on instead of using a verb like “to have”?

Finnish normally doesn’t use a separate verb meaning “to have”.
Possession is expressed with the verb olla (to be) plus a special case on the “owner”.

• Minulla on kymmenen kirjaa.
  Literally: “On me there are ten books.”

So instead of “I have X”, Finnish says something like “On me is X”.
The structure is:

• [Owner in adessive (-lla/-llä)] + on + [thing owned in nominative or partitive]
  e.g. Minulla on kirja. – I have a book.

What does the -lla ending in Minulla mean?

The -lla / -llä ending is the adessive case, often translated as “on, at, by”.

• minä = I (basic form)
• minulla = “on me / at me” (adessive form)

In the possession structure, the adessive marks the possessor:

• Minulla on = On me is… → I have…
• Sinulla on = You have…
• Hänellä on = He/She has…

So -lla here is not “with” in the English sense; it’s a grammatical marker used to express who has something.

What is the difference between minä, minun, and minulla?

They are different cases of the same pronoun:

• minä – nominative (basic subject form)
  
  • Minä olen kotona. – I am at home.
• minun – genitive (possessive form, “my”)
  
  • Minun kirjani. – My book.
• minulla – adessive (“on me / at me”), used in “I have” constructions
  
  • Minulla on kirja. – I have a book.

In Minulla on kymmenen kirjaa kotona, we need the adessive (minulla) to express possession.

Why is it kirjaa and not kirjat or kirjoja after kymmenen?

After cardinal numbers (2, 3, 4, …), Finnish normally uses the partitive singular of the noun.

• yksi kirja – one book (nominative singular)
• kaksi kirjaa – two books (partitive singular)
• viisi kirjaa – five books (partitive singular)
• kymmenen kirjaa – ten books (partitive singular)

So kirjaa is the partitive singular of kirja.
Using kirjat (the books) or kirjoja (partitive plural) here would be ungrammatical in this basic counting structure.

Why is kirjaa grammatically singular when it means “ten books”?

This is simply how Finnish expresses numbers + nouns:

Number (2 or more) + noun in partitive singular = “X things”.

Even though the meaning is plural, the form of the noun is singular partitive:

• kaksi autoa – two cars
• seitsemän lasta – seven children
• kymmenen kirjaa – ten books

So kymmenen kirjaa is understood as plural in meaning, but the grammar requires the singular partitive form.

What exactly is kymmenen? Does it change form?

Kymmenen is the cardinal number “ten”.

Numbers in Finnish can be inflected for case (especially in more complex sentences), but in a simple sentence like:

• Minulla on kymmenen kirjaa kotona.

kymmenen is in its basic nominative form and doesn’t change.
Later you might see forms like kymmenessä, kymmenestä, etc., but for now you can think of kymmenen as just “ten” that stays as it is in this context.

What does kotona mean, and how is it different from koti?

• koti = home (basic form)
• kotona = at home (inessive case: “in/at”)
• kotiin = to home (illative case: direction towards)
• kotoa = from home (elative case: direction from)

In Minulla on kymmenen kirjaa kotona, kotona specifically means “at home”.
So the sentence literally is: “On me is ten books at home.” → I have ten books at home.

Could I say Minulla on kymmenen kirjat kotona?

No, that is incorrect.

After a cardinal number (2 or more), the noun must be in partitive singular, not plural:

• ✅ Minulla on kymmenen kirjaa kotona.
• ❌ Minulla on kymmenen kirjat kotona.
• ❌ Minulla on kymmenen kirjoja kotona.

Kirjat means “the books” (nominative plural), and kirjoja is partitive plural; neither fits the standard number + noun pattern here. You must use kirjaa (partitive singular).

Why is the verb on and not olen (I am), olet (you are), etc.?

In the “have” construction, the verb is always on (3rd person singular), regardless of who the possessor is.

• Minulla on kirja. – I have a book.
• Sinulla on kirja. – You have a book.
• Hänellä on kirja. – He/She has a book.
• Meillä on kirja. – We have a book.
• Teillä on kirja. – You (pl.) have a book.
• Heillä on kirja. – They have a book.

So the person is shown by the -lla/-llä form (minulla, sinulla, hänellä, etc.), not by the verb. The verb stays on.

Can I change the word order, for example: Kotona minulla on kymmenen kirjaa?

Yes. Finnish word order is relatively flexible, and you can move elements to change emphasis.

Some possible versions:

• Minulla on kymmenen kirjaa kotona.
  Neutral: I have ten books at home.
• Minulla on kotona kymmenen kirjaa.
  Slight emphasis on “at home” as where you have them.
• Kotona minulla on kymmenen kirjaa.
  Stronger emphasis on “at home” (contrasting with somewhere else).
• Kymmenen kirjaa minulla on kotona.
  Emphasis on the number “ten”.

All are grammatically fine; the basic meaning is the same, but the focus shifts.

Is there any article like “a / an / the” in this sentence?

No. Finnish has no articles.

• kymmenen kirjaa can mean “ten books”, “ten of the books”, or “ten (some unspecified) books”, depending on context.
• kotona is just “at home”, with no “at the home” / “at home” difference in form.

Definiteness and specificity are usually understood from context, word order, or additional words, not from articles.

How would this sentence sound in everyday spoken Finnish?

In informal speech, minä-forms often shorten. A common colloquial version would be:

• Mulla on kymmenen kirjaa kotona.

Changes:

• Minulla → mulla (spoken contraction)
• The rest stays the same.

Both Minulla on kymmenen kirjaa kotona (standard) and Mulla on kymmenen kirjaa kotona (colloquial) mean I have ten books at home.