Hän osti itselleen uuden takin.

He/She bought himself/herself a new coat.

Breakdown of Hän osti itselleen uuden takin.

• hän: he/she
• uusi: new
• ostaa: to buy
• takki: the coat
• itselleen: for themselves

Questions & Answers about Hän osti itselleen uuden takin.

What does itselleen literally mean, and what grammatical form is it?

Itselleen is a reflexive form meaning “for himself / for herself / for themself/themselves” (depending on context).

Grammatically:

• itse = self
• itse + lle → itselle- (allative case: “to/for (the) self”)
• -en at the end is the 3rd person possessive suffix (“his/her/their (own)”)

So itselleen literally is “to/for his/her/their own self”, used when the subject and the person benefitting from the action are the same.

Why is it itselleen and not hänelle?

• Hänelle = to/for him or her, but does not say that this person is the subject.
• Itselleen = to/for himself/herself, and explicitly says that this person is the same as the subject.

So:

• Hän osti hänelle uuden takin.
  → He/She bought him/her a new coat. (Could be a different person.)

• Hän osti itselleen uuden takin.
  → He/She bought himself/herself a new coat.

Itselleen makes the sentence clearly reflexive: the subject is buying the coat for themself.

What case is itselleen, and when do you use this form?

Itselleen is in the allative case (the -lle case) with a 3rd person possessive suffix:

• Base: itse (self)
• Allative: itselle (to/for self)
• With 3rd person possessor: itselleen (to/for his/her/their own self)

You use this form with verbs that take a beneficiary / recipient in the allative, for example:

• ostaa itselleen – to buy for oneself
• kirjoittaa itselleen – to write for oneself
• keittää kahvia itselleen – to make coffee for oneself

It answers “for whom (the same person as the subject)”.

Could I say Hän osti uuden takin itselleen instead? Does the word order change the meaning?

Yes, Hän osti uuden takin itselleen is also correct.

Both:

• Hän osti itselleen uuden takin.
• Hän osti uuden takin itselleen.

mean essentially the same: He/She bought themself a new coat.

The difference is subtle and about emphasis / information order:

• Having itselleen earlier can slightly highlight for themself.
• Having itselleen last can slightly stress the beneficiary at the end, which is a common place for new or emphasized information in Finnish.

In everyday speech, both orders are natural and acceptable.

Why is it uuden takin and not uusi takki?

The direct object takki (“coat”) is a total object in the past tense: a specific coat that was actually bought and the action is complete. In this situation, Finnish uses the genitive/accusative form of the noun:

• Nominative: takki
• Genitive/accusative singular: takin

Adjectives must agree with the noun in case and number:

• Base adjective: uusi (new)
• Genitive singular: uuden

So you get uuden takin as the object: “a new coat” in object form.

Uusi takki would be nominative and is not correct as a direct object in this sentence.

When would you use uutta takkia instead of uuden takin?

Uutta takkia is the partitive form and is used when:

• the action is incomplete / ongoing, or
• the object is indefinite / not fully affected, or
• the verb naturally takes a partitive object.

With takki, a more natural example is with etsiä (to look for):

• Hän etsi uutta takkia.
  → He/She was looking for a new coat. (No specific coat yet.)

In your sentence, buying a specific coat and completing the purchase is a bounded, complete event, so uuden takin is appropriate:

• Hän osti uuden takin.
  → He/She bought a new coat. (Finished event, specific coat.)

What is the infinitive of osti, and how is the past tense formed?

The infinitive of osti is ostaa (“to buy”).

Formation of the past tense (simple past / preterite):

• Infinitive: ostaa
• Stem: osta-
• Add past tense marker -i- and personal ending:
  • osta
    • i → osti (3rd person singular)

So:

• hän ostaa = he/she buys
• hän osti = he/she bought

Can I omit hän and just say Osti itselleen uuden takin?

Yes. Finnish often drops subject pronouns because the verb form indicates the person.

• Hän osti itselleen uuden takin.
• Osti itselleen uuden takin.

Both can be correct. The second one relies on context to make it clear who the subject is.

Note: The form osti is 3rd person singular, so it must refer to he/she (or a singular they-like person) understood from the context.

Does hän mean “he” or “she”?

Hän is gender‑neutral. It can mean:

• he
• she

Finnish personal pronouns do not mark gender. The sentence:

• Hän osti itselleen uuden takin.

can be translated as either:

• He bought himself a new coat.
• She bought herself a new coat.

Only the context tells you which one is intended.

What case is takin, and how is it formed from takki?

Takin is the genitive singular, which in this context functions as the accusative (total object).

Formation:

• Nominative: takki (coat)
• Genitive: takin

You see consonant gradation:

• kk (strong grade) → k (weak grade) before the -n:
  • takki → takin

So takin is used here because takki is the completed, definite object of the buying action.

Do adjectives like uusi always change to match the noun, like uuden takin?

Yes. In Finnish, adjectives agree with the noun in:

• case
• number
• (and in some contexts, possessive marking)

Here:

• Noun: takin (genitive/accusative singular)
• Adjective: uusi → uuden (genitive singular)

Other examples:

• uusi takki (nominative singular)
• uudessa takissa (inessive: in a new coat)
• uusien takkien (genitive plural: of new coats)

The adjective must “follow” the noun’s form.

Can itselleen also refer to plural subjects, like “they bought themselves new coats”?

Yes. The 3rd person reflexive forms are the same for singular and plural.

For plural:

• He ostivat itselleen uudet takit.
  → They bought themselves new coats.

Here:

• Subject: he (they)
• Verb: ostivat (they bought)
• Reflexive: itselleen (for themselves)
• Object: uudet takit (new coats)

Context (singular hän vs plural he) tells you whether itselleen means him/herself or themselves.

How would you say “He/She bought me a new coat” instead of “for themself”?

You would use the allative of minä (I), which is minulle:

• Hän osti minulle uuden takin.
  → He/She bought me a new coat.

Compare:

• Hän osti itselleen uuden takin.
  → He/She bought themself a new coat.
• Hän osti minulle uuden takin.
  → He/She bought me a new coat.

Both itselleen and minulle are allative forms, but the first is reflexive, the second refers specifically to me.

What is the difference between Hän osti itselleen uuden takin and Hän osti itse uuden takin?

They express different ideas:

• Hän osti itselleen uuden takin.
  → He/She bought themself a new coat.
  Focus: who the coat is for (the buyer and recipient are the same person).

• Hän osti itse uuden takin.
  → He/She themself bought a new coat.
  Focus: who did the buying (he/she personally did it, not someone else).
  Here itse works as an emphatic “himself/herself (personally)”, not as a reflexive indirect object.

So itselleen marks the beneficiary, while itse here emphasizes the doer.