Finnish/Grammar-Suffixes

^^Contents^^ <<Grammar-Vowel harmony | Grammar-Suffixes | Now the big part! In Finnish, like all Finno-Ugric languages, there are a huge series of suffixes to represent plurals, positions, postpositions (prepositions), pronouns and descriptions. They are grouped in to 4 groups of which there is a strict order, Group 1 which are plurals, Group 2 which are positions (2a) and postpositions (2b), Group 3 which are accusative pronouns, and Group 4 which are descriptions (i.e. also, too). To describe the suffixes easily the word auto (car) is used. Group 1: Plurals The first group of suffixes are plurals, of which there are 3 different ways. -t You can pluralize many words by simply putting a "t" after the word: auto → autot ; car → cars kirja → kirjat ; book → books If there are "kk", "pp", or "tt" in a word in a similar way like those below, pluralize it in the following way: kukka → kukat ; flower → flowers hattu → hatut ; hat → hats If a word has "nk" in a similar way like those below, pluralize in the following way: kenkä → kengät ; shoe → shoes sanko → sangot ; bucket → buckets henki → henget ; spirit → spirits If a word ends with a letter "s" like those below, pluralize it in the following way: varis → varikset ; crow → crows tulos → tulokset ; result → results If a word ends with "nen" like those below, pluralize it in the following way: kukkanen → kukkaset ; small flower → small flowers Virtanen → Virtaset ; -i (-j) To pluralise a word with another suffix you put an i in between the word and the suffix(es). If there is a cluster of more than 2 vowels, then the i becomes a j autossani → autoissani in my car → in my cars autoa → autoja car → cars (partitive) -a When there is a number before the word to indicate an amount, you put an a after the word (in fact this is not a plural at all, but partitive: it is the number that takes the formal role of auto in the sentence, more about that later) auto → kaksi autoa car → two cars autoni → kaksi autoani my car → my two cars Exercises Answer to these exercises are at the end of the page. Exercise Number One Pluralize these Finnish words. Translations in English are beside some words. talo (house) koira (dog) kirja (book) lappu (note) näppäimistö (keyboard) takki (coat) mökki (cottage) koti (home) katu (street) jalas (runner) Leinonen kello (clock/bell) mato (worm) sänky (bed) piste (dot/point) Exercise number two Pluralize the following words. These are a bit harder than the previous ones. teko (act) lumihanki laite (gadget) pilvi haapa tuuletin tiede kanne kansi vaaka Exercise number three Pluralize these words which have another suffixes. There are rough translations in English. autossa (in a car) autona (as a car) kellossani (in my clock) kelloa (clock(partitive)) kynällä (with a pen) koneessa (in a machine) korissa (in a basket) kirjasta (from a book) Answers Exercise Number One talot (houses) koirat (dogs) kirjat (books) laput (notes) näppäimistöt (keyboards) takit mökit kodit kadut (streets) jalakset Leinoset kellot madot sängyt pisteet Exercise number two teot (acts) lumihanget laitteet (gadgets) pilvet haavat tuulettimet tieteet kanteet kannet vaa'at Exercise number three autoissa (in cars) autoina (as cars) kelloissani (in my clocks) kelloja ((clocks)partitive) kynillä (with pens) koneissa (in machines) koreissa (in baskets) kirjoista (from books)