Nouns: Partitive Case — Finnish Grammar

is coffee. is I drink coffee — and the ending on is doing something English has no word for. It says the coffee is not being treated as a bounded, finished quantity: some coffee, an amount left open.

That single idea runs through everything this ending does. It appears on uncountable substances, on the object of a negated verb, after every number above one, and on an object the action has not yet got through. The ending is -a or -ä on most words, -ta or -tä after certain stems, occasionally -tta or -ttä; the a-forms go on words containing a, o or u and the ä-forms on the rest.

An Unspecified Amount of Something

With uncountable things (water, coffee, money) and unspecified quantities, the partitive corresponds to English "some" - or to no word at all. It pictures a part of a larger, unbounded mass rather than a whole, countable item.

Juon kahvia.
I drink (some) coffee.

kahvi- coffee, -a the partitive ending
the dictionary form is ; that one letter is the difference between drinking coffee and drinking all the coffee

Haluatko vettä?
Do you want (some) water?
Minulla on rahaa.
I have (some) money.

After a Negative Verb

The object of a negative verb is almost always in the partitive. This rule is highly consistent and pairs naturally with negation: if you didn't do the action, the object was not wholly affected.

En juo kahvia.
I don't drink coffee.
Hän ei syö lihaa.
He/she doesn't eat meat.
Minulla ei ole autoa.
I don't have a car.

After Numbers Greater Than One

Counted nouns following two, three, a hundred - any number above one - take the partitive singular (not the plural).

kaksi kissaa
two cats
kolme euroa
three euros
viisi minuuttia
five minutes

Ongoing vs. Completed Action

When the action is in progress and its object is not yet fully affected, the object takes the partitive. Switching to the accusative (the whole-object case) signals that the action reached its end. This contrast carries real meaning, and Finnish marks it consistently.

Luen kirjaa.
I am reading a book. (in progress)
Luin kirjan.
I read the (whole) book. (completed, accusative)

After Certain Verbs and Emotions

A number of common verbs simply govern the partitive, especially verbs of feeling, loving, and waiting. With these, the object is in the partitive regardless of whether the action is complete.

Rakastan sinua.
I love you.
Odotan bussia.
I'm waiting for the bus.
Katson televisiota.
I'm watching television.

In Greetings and Set Phrases

Many fixed expressions are simply nouns in the partitive.

Hyvää päivää!
Good day! (literally "good day", partitive)
Kiitos paljon!
Thanks a lot!

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Finnish course

196 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 1. A few of them, with the words “Nouns: Partitive Case” is about in bold:

Rakastan heitä ja he rakastavat minua.
I love them and they love me.
Lesson 32
Minulla on kaksi autoa, kaksi polkupyörää ja kolme moottoripyörää.
I have two cars, two bicycles, and three motorbikes.
Lesson 33
Ostan yhden banaanin ja kuusi munaa.
I am buying one banana and six eggs.
Lesson 43

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