Reference
Concepts
Each concept collects every word and construction from every lesson that uses it, with one model to decide by and practice across all of them.
From, at, toEro-, olo- ja tulosijat
Finnish sorts its location cases by direction: out of something (talosta), staying in it (talossa), into it (taloon). The same three directions carry time (aamusta iltaan), feelings and impressions (näytät väsyneeltä, ihastunut sinuun) and the third infinitive (tulen syömästä, olen syömässä, menen syömään). When a word brings a case, ask which way it points.
21 units · 52 itemsGenitive + a little wordPostpositiot
Many relations that English and Russian put before a noun come after it in Finnish, and the noun before them takes the genitive: talon edessä (in front of the house, перед домом), pöydän alla (under the table), viikon kuluttua (in a week, через неделю), loman aikana (during the holiday). The genitive marks the landmark, and the little word after it says how you stand to it.
3 units · 18 itemsMeasures count like objectsObjektin sijaiset määrän adverbiaalit
A phrase that says how long, how far or how many times takes the same forms as an object. One whole unit takes -n: ostin kirjan, so odotin tunnin, juoksin kilometrin, kävin siellä kerran. A number takes the partitive after it: kolme kirjaa, so kolme tuntia. Koko counts as one whole: koko päivän. And a negative turns it partitive, as it does an object: en odottanut tuntiakaan, not even an hour.
1 unit · 10 itemsTime phrasesAjanilmaukset
Finnish has no case of its own for time. It says time with the cases of place and of objects: a start is mistä (aamusta), an end is mihin (iltaan), a landmark takes the genitive and a little word (viikon kuluttua, like talon edessä), and a length counts like an object (vuoden, kolme vuotta, like kirjan, kolme kirjaa). So first ask what you’re placing on the line: a point, an edge or a length. The ending then follows the direction.
16 units · 60 itemsThe partitivePartitiivi
The partitive marks something without a fixed amount or a finished whole. It is the object of an action still going on (siellä pestään lattiaa), the object of any negative sentence, commands included (Älkää unohtako passeja), the count after a number (kaksi viikkoa), and the form of wishes and greetings (Hyvää matkaa!, Hyvää huomenta).
11 units · 12 itemsThe passivePassiivi
The Finnish passive means people do this, and the sentence doesn’t say who. The doer is always human, even when nobody names them: Ovi avattiin is “someone opened the door”, where Ovi aukesi is “the door opened”. That “someone did it” sense is why on + -ttu reads as a state. In everyday speech the passive also means “we” (me mennään), and on its own “let’s” (Mennään!).
11 units · 45 itemsThe instructiveInstruktiivi
The instructive -in means “with” or “by means of”: omin silmin, with my own eyes; terveisin, with greetings. Adjectives agree with it (parhain terveisin, ystävällisin terveisin). On a verb it ends in -en and means “while doing”: toivottaen, while wishing.
5 units · 3 itemsHow sure are you?
Finnish grades certainty on one scale: ehkä (maybe), varmaan or taitaa (probably), varmasti (surely), taatusti (guaranteed). Taitaa is a verb, not an adverb: it takes the person ending, and the next verb stays in the basic form (Anna taitaa olla kotona).
5 units · 7 itemsShort message phrases
A short Finnish message has three fixed parts: an opening, a closing and often a wish. Each is a set phrase you learn whole, and one question explains their endings: what is the line doing? A wish takes the partitive (Hyvää matkaa!), “let’s” is the passive (Nähdään!), a sign-off keeps the old instructive -in, “with” (Terveisin), and an address stays in the basic form (Hyvä Maria!).
25 units · 18 items