Finnish Language and Culture 1, 12.10. - 9.12.2020
Course grammar
1. Nouns
1.2. Genitive
The genitive singular ending is -n.
The use of the genitive form
The genitive form is used in Finnish to express e.g. ownership and possession.
The genitive form is used together with postpositions
Genitive (–n form) is often used together with postpositions such as kanssa ‘with’, edessä ‘in front of’, takana ‘behind’ etc. Genitive + kanssa describes association between words and genitive + edessä, takana etc. indicates location. Indo-European languages use mainly prepositions but Finnish favors postpositions, comp.
Sanna - Sannan
Sanna - Sanna’s
Pasi - Pasin
Pasi - Pasi’s
Examples:Pasi - Pasin
Pasi - Pasi’s
Sannan kurssi
Sanna’s course
Pasin kirja
Pasi’s book
Note: If a proper name ends with a consonant add a vowel -i before the ending:Fang - Fangin
Janet - Janetin
Personal pronouns genitive forms are:Janet - Janetin
minä - minun, sinä - sinun, hän - hänen
me - meidän, te - teidän, he - heidän
The use of the genitive form
The genitive form is used in Finnish to express e.g. ownership and possession.
Axelin auto
Axel's car
Annan kirja
Anna's book
Axel's car
Annan kirja
Anna's book
The genitive is used as an attribute
Italian pääkaupunki
the capital city of Italy
Helsingin yliopisto
University of Helsinki
Notice, that a genitive attribute is always in genitive form regardless the main word's form:
Minä opiskelen Helsingin yliopistossa. I study at the University of Helsinki.
Minä asun Helsingin keskustassa, I live in the center of Helsinki.
Special use of the genitive case occurs with täytyy must.
The subject is marked with the -n and the verb täytyy is in the same form regardless of the person.
Minun täytyy nyt mennä.
I must go now.
I must go now.
Sinun täytyy olla kotona.
You must stay home.
You must stay home.
Sannan täytyy asua Helsingissä.
Sanna must live in Helsinki.
Sanna must live in Helsinki.
Meidän täytyy puhua suomea.
We must speak Finnish.
Teidän täytyy mennä kotiin.
You must go home now.
Heidän täytyy asua Oslossa.
They must live in Oslo.
We must speak Finnish.
Teidän täytyy mennä kotiin.
You must go home now.
Heidän täytyy asua Oslossa.
They must live in Oslo.
The genitive form is used together with postpositions
Genitive (–n form) is often used together with postpositions such as kanssa ‘with’, edessä ‘in front of’, takana ‘behind’ etc. Genitive + kanssa describes association between words and genitive + edessä, takana etc. indicates location. Indo-European languages use mainly prepositions but Finnish favors postpositions, comp. with a friend ystävän kanssa,
under the chair tuolin alla.