Nouns: Genitive Case — Finnish Grammar

English marks an owner with 's or with of: the dog's name, the name of the dog. Finnish marks it with -n on the owner: a dog, the dog's name.

That -n repays learning early for a reason beyond ownership. Strip it off and what remains is the form every other ending attaches to, so knowing a word's -n form tells you how the rest of its forms will look. It also turns up in two structures that have nothing to do with possession: in front of the words for under, behind and after, and on the person who has to do something.

Possession

The owner comes first and takes the -n; the thing owned follows.

Marian kirja
Maria's book

Maria-n the owner, carrying the -n
kirja the thing owned, unchanged — English marks the owner with 's, Finnish with this -n

koiran nimi
the dog's name
isäni auto
my father's car
kaupungin keskusta
the city centre (literally "the city's centre")

Before Position Words (Postpositions)

Finnish words for position - under, in front of, behind - follow the noun, and that noun takes the genitive. English "under the table" comes out, literally, as "the table's under".

pöydän alla
under the table
talon edessä
in front of the house
oven takana
behind the door
kahvin jälkeen
after coffee

The Subject of Necessity ("have to")

In sentences about obligation, the person who must act stands in the genitive, with a verb such as or ("must"). The structure is literally "of me it is necessary to…".

Minun täytyy mennä.
I have to go.
Sinun pitää levätä.
You should rest.
Hänen täytyy odottaa.
He/she has to wait.

As a Whole Object

The singular accusative - the case of a complete, affected object - is identical in form to the genitive (-n). So you will often see this ending on the object of a completed action.

Ostin auton.
I bought a/the (whole) car.
Hän joi maidon.
He/she drank the (whole) milk.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Finnish course

75 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 8. A few of them, with the words “Nouns: Genitive Case” is about in bold:

Ostan yhden banaanin ja kuusi munaa.
I am buying one banana and six eggs.
Lesson 43
Ostin tusinan munia ja suklaapatukan myös sinulle.
I bought a dozen eggs and a candy bar for you too.
Lesson 47
Minun täytyy ajaa pyörälläni, kunnes saan uuden auton.
I have to ride my bike until I get a new car.
Lesson 301

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