käsivartensa

Käsivartensa is a Finnish possessive noun phrase that translates roughly to “his/her arm” or “one’s own arm.” It is formed from käsivarsi, meaning forearm or arm, with the third-person possessive suffix -nsä, which marks ownership by the subject of the sentence.

In usage, the possessor is typically understood from context rather than stated explicitly. The form attaches to the possessed noun, and the exact meaning as singular or plural depends on the noun it accompanies. For example, with a singular base, it means his or her arm; with the plural base käsivarret, it can denote his or her arms. The surrounding sentence usually clarifies the intended number.

Examples illustrate its function. Hän rikkoi käsivartensa means “He/She broke his/her arm.” Another common usage is to refer to the same person’s arm in different contexts, as in describing symptoms or injuries.

Linguistic note: käsivartensa is an instance of Finnish possessive morphology, where the suffix -nsä encodes the third-person possessive, and the possessed noun agrees in number with the thing possessed (arm versus arms) as determined by the broader sentence structure.

See also: käsivarsi, käsivarret, the base terms for singluar and plural forms of the limb.