Partitiivimuotona

Partitiivimuotona is a Finnish grammar term that means “in the partitive form.” It refers to a word being inflected to the partitive case, which is one of the modal forms used in Finnish to express partiality, indefiniteness, or ongoing, non-completed actions. The partitive form is commonly used for direct objects of verbs when the quantity is not fully specified or when the quantity is indefinite, as well as after negation or certain expressions that require it.

In practice, the partitiivimuotona appears with nouns, adjectives and other words. For nouns, the partitive singular typically ends in -a/-ä, -ta/-tä, -tta/-tto, or other vowel endings, while the partitive plural often takes endings such as -ita/-itä or -oja/-öjä, depending on the stem. For adjectives modifying plural nouns, the adjective takes a partitive plural form, for example isoja taloja (big houses) where the adjective iso- is inflected to isoja.

Usage notes include that the partitive form signals indefiniteness or partial quantity, and it is the standard object form after negation in Finnish. It also occurs in constructions expressing quantity with words like paljon (much), vähän (little), or with verbs of consuming, where the object is treated as not fully counted or specified.

Examples:

- Ostan omenaa (I buy an apple, i.e., some apples).

- En juo kahvia (I don’t drink coffee).

- Isoja taloja (big houses).

The concept of partitiivimuotona is central to understanding how Finnish marks focus, quantity, and aspect in sentence structure.