haluamansa

Haluamansa is a Finnish grammatical term referring to a nominalized relative phrase meaning “that which (someone) wants” or “the thing one desires.” It is formed from the verb haluta, meaning to want, with the present active participle stem haluama- and the third-person possessive suffix -nsa, yielding haluamansa. The form functions as a noun phrase that can modify a following noun or appear in a predicative position.

Morphology and use

Haluamansa is an example of a participial relative construction in Finnish. The suffix -ansa (or -änsä when attached to a word with a different stem) marks that the possessed object belongs to the subject of the main clause. The entire phrase often stands in place of a relative clause such as “that which he wants” or “the thing he desires.” When the phrase acts as the object of a verb, the possessed noun that it modifies usually appears in the appropriate case (often partitive or genitive, depending on the verb).

Examples

Hän ei löytänyt haluamaansa. — He didn’t find what he wanted.

Hän toi minulle haluamansa lahjan. — He brought me the gift that he wanted.

These sentences show how haluamansa can substitute for a longer relative clause and how the surrounding noun governs the case form.

Nuance and alternatives

Haluamansa tends to be more compact and slightly formal or literary than explicit relative clauses like se, mitä hän haluaa. In everyday speech, speakers might use mitä hän haluaa or sen haluama lahja depending on context.

See also

Finnish grammar, participle clauses, relative clauses.