Hänen

Hänen is a Finnish possessive determiner and pronoun that means “his,” “her,” or “its” in third-person singular. It is used to indicate that a following noun belongs to or is associated with somewhere in the context a third-person singular possessor. The corresponding plural form is heidän, used for “their.”

In Finnish grammar, possession is typically expressed by attaching a possessive suffix to the noun (for example, talonsa “his/her house”). The determiner hänen functions as a separate word that explicitly marks the owner when needed, such as for emphasis or to avoid ambiguity, especially when the possessor is not clear from context. Pronoun forms of possession like hänen can appear with a noun that also carries its own possessive suffix, forming phrases such as hänen kirjansa (“his/her book”) or hänen vanhempansa (“his/her parents”).

Usage notes include that hän is gender-neutral in Finnish, so hänen does not encode gender. The form is generally lowercase within a sentence and only capitalizes at sentence start. In formal or literary Finnish, verhogen of clarity can favor käyttämään hänen before a noun phrase, but in everyday speech the possessive suffix on the noun alone often suffices to convey ownership.

Examples:

- Hänen kirjansa on pöydällä. (His/her book is on the table.)

- Heidän talonsa on vanha. (Their house is old.)

Hänen is an integral part of Finnish pronoun and possessive systems, providing a clear way to refer to a third-person possessor without ambiguity.