Ostajan

Ostajan is the genitive singular form of the Finnish noun ostaja, meaning “the buyer.” In Finnish, ostaja refers to a person who purchases goods or services. Ostajan is used to indicate possession or association, as in ostajan oikeudet (the buyer’s rights) or sopimus ostajan kanssa (a contract with the buyer).

Morphology and usage: Ostaja declines in Finnish as ostaja (nominative singular), ostajan (genitive singular), ostajaa (partitive singular); plural forms are ostajat (nominative plural), ostajien (genitive plural), ostajia (partitive plural). The form ostajan specifically marks possession or relation to the buyer, and it is common in legal and commercial language to designate things belonging to or associated with the buyer, such as ostajan vastuut (the buyer’s responsibilities) or tiedot ostajan kanssa (information regarding the buyer).

Etymology and related forms: Ostaja is formed from the verb ostaa “to buy” plus the agent suffix -ja, creating an agent noun meaning “buyer.” The genitive suffix -n yields ostajan. While ostaja is the base term for “buyer,” ostajan functions strictly as a grammatical form rather than a standalone concept. In everyday Finnish, ostaja is more commonly used than ostajan; ostajan appears primarily in phrases that require a possessive or relational sense.

Notes: Ostajan is not a separate concept; its meaning arises from the underlying noun ostaja and its role in possessive or relational expressions. It is encountered mainly in contract, sales, and business texts, and similar possessive forms exist in related Finnic languages with language-specific variations.