Henkilötsanan

Henkilötsanan is a Finnish term that translates roughly to "personal pronoun" or "personal word." In Finnish grammar, it refers to words that stand in for the name of a person or a group of people. The most common examples are minä (I), sinä (you singular), hän (he/she), me (we), te (you plural), and he (they). These words are fundamental to constructing sentences and expressing who is performing an action or who is being referred to.

Unlike some languages, Finnish personal pronouns do not have grammatical gender. The third-person singular pronoun "hän" can refer to a male or female person. Similarly, the third-person plural "he" can refer to a group of males, females, or a mixed group. This lack of gender marking is a notable characteristic of Finnish personal pronouns.

Finnish personal pronouns also inflect for case, meaning they change their form depending on their grammatical function in a sentence. For example, the nominative form of "minä" is "minä," but in the accusative case, it becomes "minut." In the genitive, it is "minun," and so on for other cases. This inflectional system allows for a flexible word order in Finnish, as the case ending clearly indicates the role of the pronoun. Understanding these inflections is crucial for correct Finnish usage.