Sijamuodoissa

Sijamuodot, or case forms, are the inflected endings of Finnish nouns, pronouns, adjectives and numbers that express grammatical relations and semantics. Finnish relies on suffix-based inflection rather than prepositions to convey subject, object, location, possession and other functions. The nominative is the basic dictionary form; all other forms attach case endings to the stem, with vowel harmony and possible consonant gradation affecting the endings.

Finnish grammars normally present about 14 or 15 sijamuodot. The main ones are genitive (possession), partitive (part of something or indefinite quantity), and a set of locational and directional cases: inessive (inside), elative (out of), illative (into); adessive (on/at), ablative (from on), allative (onto); essive (as), translative (into the state of), instructive (instrumental); abessive (without) and comitative (with). Some sources treat the accusative as a distinct form in certain constructions, but the standard system has no separate accusative suffix in everyday usage.

Usage of sijamuodot is pervasive in Finnish. They mark meaning that in other languages is conveyed by word order or prepositions, such as location, movement, ownership, quantity, and state. The partitive signals incomplete actions or partial quantity; the essive and translative describe states and transformations; the comitative and abessive convey accompaniment or absence. Endings vary with the stem and obey vowel harmony, and some nouns undergo consonant gradation.

For learners, focus on the most common cases and listen for how endings change with context. Mastery of sijamuodot is essential for reading and composing natural Finnish.