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Pidän eniten niistä.

Pidän eniten niistä.
I like them the most.

Breakdown of Pidän eniten niistä.

minä
I
pitää
to like
eniten
the most
niistä
them
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Questions & Answers about Pidän eniten niistä.

What does Pidän mean here, and where is the subject “I”?

Pidän is the 1st person singular form of the verb pitää in the present tense.

  • pitää (jostakin) = to like (something)
  • pidän = I like

In Finnish, personal pronouns (like minä = I) are often dropped, because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

  • Minä pidän. = I like.
  • Pidän. = I like. (subject understood from the verb ending)

So in Pidän eniten niistä, the subject “I” is contained inside pidän.

Why is it niistä and not ne or niitä?

The verb pitää in the sense “to like” always takes its object in the elative case (the “from” case):

  • pitää jostakin = to like something (literally: to like from something)

Niistä is the elative plural of ne (they / those):

  • ne = they / those (nominative)
  • niistä = from them / from those (elative plural)

So:

  • Pidän niistä. = I like them / I like those. (literally: I like from them)

You cannot use plain ne here, and niitä (partitive) would be grammatically wrong after pitää in this “like” meaning. The structure pitää + elative is fixed:

  • Pidän suklaasta. = I like chocolate.
  • Pidän niistä. = I like those.
Exactly what does eniten mean, and how is it different from enemmän?

Both enemmän and eniten relate to the idea of “more / most”:

  • paljon = much / a lot
  • enemmän = more (comparative)
  • eniten = the most (superlative)

So:

  • Pidän niistä enemmän. = I like them more (than something else).
  • Pidän niistä eniten. = I like them the most (out of several options).

In your sentence, Pidän eniten niistä = I like those the most.
It usually implies a comparison where there are at least three options (or at least a set of options) and those are at the top of your preference.

Why is the word order Pidän eniten niistä? Could I say Pidän niistä eniten instead?

Both are possible and correct:

  • Pidän eniten niistä.
  • Pidän niistä eniten.

The basic information doesn’t change: I like those the most.

Nuance:

  • Pidän eniten niistä.

    • Slightly more emphasis on eniten: the degree of liking is central.
    • Often used when you’re focusing first on the fact that something is “the most” liked.

  • Pidän niistä eniten.

    • Slightly more emphasis on niistä: those in contrast to other things.
    • Useful when you’re explicitly comparing several things and then picking those as the winner.

In everyday speech, both orders appear and the difference is subtle. For a learner, you can treat them as interchangeable in most cases.

What exactly is niistä? Can you show the full set of common forms?

Niistä comes from the demonstrative pronoun ne (plural of se = that/it). Here are some key forms:

Singular (that / it):

  • se = that / it (nominative)
  • sen = of that / its (genitive)
  • sitä = that / it (partitive)
  • siinä = in that
  • siitä = from that
  • siihen = into/onto that

Plural (those / they):

  • ne = those / they (nominative)
  • niiden or niiden (spoken: niitten) = of those / their (genitive)
  • niitä = those (partitive)
  • niissä = in those
  • niistä = from those (this is your form)
  • niihin = into/onto those

In Pidän eniten niistä, the verb pitää requires the elative case, so we use niistä.

Could you say Minä pidän eniten niistä instead?

Yes.

  • Minä pidän eniten niistä.
  • Pidän eniten niistä.

Both are correct and mean the same thing: I like those the most.

Adding minä:

  • Adds explicit emphasis on I (for contrast), e.g.:
    • Minä pidän eniten niistä, mutta sinä pidät eniten näistä.
      • I like those the most, but you like these the most.

Without minä:

  • More neutral; typical everyday Finnish.
What is the difference between pidän and tykkään? Could I say Tykkään eniten niistä?

Yes, you can say:

  • Tykkään eniten niistä. = I like those the most.

Differences:

  • pitää (jostakin)

    • Standard, neutral, used in both written and spoken Finnish.
    • Slightly more formal or textbook-like, but very common in speech.

  • tykätä (jostakin)

    • Very common in spoken Finnish, friendly and informal.
    • In everyday conversation, tykkään is extremely frequent.

Grammar is the same: both verbs use jostakin (elative) for the thing liked:

  • Pidän musiikista. / Tykkään musiikista.
  • Pidän eniten niistä. / Tykkään eniten niistä.
How is the verb pitää conjugated in this “to like” meaning?

Present tense of pitää (jostakin):

  • minä pidän = I like
  • sinä pidät = you like (singular)
  • hän pitää = he/she likes
  • me pidämme = we like
  • te pidätte = you like (plural or formal)
  • he pitävät = they like

Examples:

  • Pidän niistä. = I like those.
  • He pitävät niistä. = They like those.

The meaning “to like” always appears with an elative complement: pitää jostakin.

I’ve seen pitää used to mean “must / have to”. Why does it mean “to like” here?

Finnish pitää has several different meanings depending on the structure:

  1. pitää jostakin = to like something

    • Pidän eniten niistä. = I like those the most.

  2. pitää tehdä jotakin = must / have to do something

    • Minun pitää mennä. = I must go / I have to go.

  3. pitää kiinni jostakin = to hold on to something

    • Pidä kiinni! = Hold on!

These are different usages of the same verb. The meaning is determined by:

  • The case of the noun (here: jostakin = elative)
  • The presence of an infinitive (pitää tehdä)
  • The following particles or adverbs

In Pidän eniten niistä, we have pitää + jostakin, so it means “to like.”

Could I say Pidän niistä paljon instead of Pidän eniten niistä?

You can, but the meaning changes slightly:

  • Pidän niistä paljon.

    • I like them a lot.
    • Expresses a high degree of liking, but no explicit comparison.

  • Pidän eniten niistä.

    • I like those the most.
    • Clearly expresses a comparison: those are your top choice out of several options.

So:

  • If you just want to say you like them very much → Pidän niistä paljon.
  • If you want to say they are your favourite among alternatives → Pidän eniten niistä.
Is eniten always placed before niistä, or can it move around in other sentences?

Eniten is quite flexible in word order. Common patterns:

  • Pidän eniten niistä.
  • Pidän niistä eniten.
  • Niistä pidän eniten. (extra emphasis on niistä)

All three are correct; they just shift emphasis slightly. In general:

  • Putting something first often emphasizes it.
    • Niistä pidän eniten. = It’s those that I like the most.

When you’re learning, focusing on these three orders is enough. They’re all natural and understood as “I like those the most.”

Could Pidän eniten niistä also refer to people (“them”) or only to things (“those”)?

It can refer to either, depending on context:

  • Referring to things:

    • Looking at different shirts: Pidän eniten niistä. = I like those (shirts) the most.

  • Referring to people:

    • Talking about some group of people you’ve met:
      • Tapasin monta ihmistä, mutta pidän eniten niistä.
        • I met many people, but I like those ones the most.

Finnish ne / niistä can refer to both things and (informally) people. Context usually makes it clear what niistä means.