Akusatiiviset

Akusatiiviset is a term used in Finnish linguistics to refer to the accusative case and the objects or forms that bear it. The concept is most often discussed in relation to direct objects in transitive clauses, and it is part of the broader Finnish case system, which also includes genitive and partitive among others.

In Finnish grammar, the accusative marks a definite, bounded direct object and is contrasted with the partitive, which marks indefinite or partial objects. In practice, the morphological realization of the accusative can be indistinguishable from other cases, and the choice between accusative and partitive is influenced by aspects such as totality, definiteness, and context. For many nouns, the singular accusative looks like the genitive, while the plural forms may align with other plural cases; the distinction is often most visible in pronouns.

Pronouns provide a clear set of akusatiiviset forms used as direct objects. Common examples include minut, sinut, hänet, meidät, teidät, heidät. These forms are regularly found in sentences such as Näen hänet (I see him/her) or Kuulin minut (I heard me) in everyday Finnish, illustrating how the accusative appears outside of noun inflection as well.

Historically, the term derives from the Latin accusativus and is used to describe how certain words and morphemes function to mark direct objects. In Finnish, the akusatiivinen layer coexists with other object-marking strategies, and its exact realization is guided by definiteness, aspect, and syntactic role.

See also: Akkusatiivi, Genitive, Partitive.