Koiriensa

Koiriensa is a Finnish noun phrase used to express possession by a third-person plural subject over multiple dogs. The phrase translates roughly as “their dogs” and is encountered in everyday language as well as in literature. It is a product of Finnish possessive constructions, where the head noun carries a possessive meaning that reflects the owner, in this case a group of people or entities.

In usage, koiriensa appears in contexts where the owner is plural and the possessed item is dogs. The structure allows a compact way to indicate ownership without repeating the possessor. The possessive relationship is typically linked to the surrounding sentence through case markings and concord with the rest of the noun phrase. The form is commonly found in phrases describing belongings, relationships, or actions involving the dogs owned by the group.

Examples help illustrate the concept. For instance, koiriensa kanssa means “with their dogs,” signaling an action shared by the dogs and their owners. Koiriensa ruokaa refers to “their dogs’ food,” indicating food designated for the dogs owned by the group. Such phrases show how Finnish builds clear ownership relationships within a single noun phrase without additional words.

See also: Finnish grammar, possessive suffixes, genitive case, noun phrases.