itsellä

Itsellä is a Finnish word that translates to "myself" or "oneself" in English. It is the adessive case of the pronoun itse, which means "self." The adessive case in Finnish is used to indicate possession or location, so itsellä literally means "on oneself" or "at oneself."

In practice, itsellä is often used in contexts where English would use possessive pronouns like "my," "your," "his," "her," "its," "our," or "their." For example, "Minulla on kirja" translates to "I have a book," but literally means "On me is a book." Similarly, "Hänellä on rahaa" means "He/She has money," literally "On him/her is money." This grammatical structure is common in Finnish for expressing possession.

Beyond possession, itsellä can also refer to something belonging to or happening to a person. For instance, "onko sinulla itselläsi mitään?" means "do you yourself have anything?" or "do you have anything on you?" The addition of "itse" emphasizes the person themselves, distinguishing them from others or from external circumstances. The word is a fundamental part of Finnish grammar and its idiomatic usage is crucial for understanding the language.