Nuoruudestaan

Nuoruudestaan is a Finnish grammatical form based on the noun nuoruus, meaning youth. It is the elatiivi case form nuoruudesta (from youth) combined with a third-person possessive suffix, yielding nuoruudestaan. The form literally means “from his/her youth” and is used to refer to someone’s past experiences or to discuss their youth as a topic, depending on the verb.

Morphology and usage: The base is nuoruus (youth). In the elatiivi singular it becomes nuoruudesta, and the addition of the third-person possessive suffix -nsa/-nsä creates nuoruudestaan. This construction is common in biographical, autobiographical, and narrative contexts when describing what someone experienced or wants to convey about their youth. The sense can be either origin (from one’s youth) or a topic of discussion (about one’s youth) depending on the verb used.

Examples:

- Hän kertoi nuoruudestaan. (He spoke about his youth / told about his youth.)

- Kirjoittaja muistelee nuoruudestaan. (The author reminisces about his/her youth.)

Notes: Finnish often uses the elatiivi for expressions involving origin or topics introduced by verbs like kertoa or muistella. Nuoruudestaan is a specific instance of this pattern, with the possessive suffix marking the person whose youth is being referred to.

See also: nuoruus; elatiivi; Finnish grammar.