Suorakohdetta

Suorakohdetta is a term used in Finnish grammar to describe the direct object of a transitive verb—the noun phrase that directly receives the action of the verb in a sentence. The direct object is a core syntactic function in Finnish clauses and helps determine the meaning of the action.

In Finnish, the direct object is marked by case rather than prepositions. The form used for the direct object is often called the accusative, but Finnish does not have a single fixed accusative form for all contexts. In practice, direct objects can appear as different inflectional forms depending on definiteness, aspect, and negation. A common pattern is that definite, completed actions tend to align with a form that marks a finite object, while indefinite or negated actions often use the partitive form of the object (ending, for example, in -a/-ä or -ta/-tä, depending on the noun). This means that the same noun can function as a suorakohde in one context and as a suorakohteen partitive in another.

Examples illustrate the concept. In a positive, definite statement, a direct object may appear in a form associated with the accusative/genitive function, as in Näen koiran (I see the dog). In a negated sentence or with an ongoing/indefinite action, the direct object commonly takes the partitive form, as in En näe koiraa (I do not see a dog). The distinction is a key feature of how Finnish marks the direct object and differs from the indirect object, which is expressed through other constructions.

See also: Finnish grammar, object (grammar), case in Finnish.