lauseita

Lauseita is the partitive plural form of the Finnish noun lause, meaning sentences or clauses. In Finnish, lause can refer to a clause within a larger sentence or to a full sentence, while the term virke is often used for a complete sentence. The plural word lauseita is commonly encountered when speaking about several sentences or when referring to an indefinite amount of sentences.

Morphology and usage

Lause has several inflected forms, including nominative singular lause, nominative plural lauseet, partitive plural lauseita, and genitive forms such as lauseen and lauseiden. The form lauseita is the standard partitive plural and appears in contexts like “useita lauseita” or “useita lauseita sisältävä teksti,” indicating an unspecified number of sentences or clauses. Finnish speakers also distinguish lause (clause) from virke (a complete sentence) in more formal or linguistic discussions.

Examples and context

Common examples include “Tässä tekstissä on useita lauseita” or “Hän kirjoitti useita lauseita.” In educational settings, lauseita is frequently used when counting or analyzing sentences within a text. The word appears in language learning materials, grammar descriptions, and corpus research to discuss sentence-level units and their properties.

Relation to related terms

Lauseita sits alongside lauseet (nominative plural) as a grammatical plural form, and it contrasts with other terms like virke, which emphasizes a complete, standalone sentence. The distinction between lause and virke is a practical consideration for writing and syntax analysis, while lauseita specifically marks the object of discussion when referring to several sentences or clauses.