metsänsä

Metsänsä is a Finnish noun phrase meaning "his/her/its forest." It is formed from the noun metsä (forest) plus the third-person possessive suffix -nsä, producing the fused form metsänsä. The suffix indicates possession by a third-person singular possessor, and its exact spelling adjusts to vowel harmony rules in Finnish.

In usage, metsänsä functions as a possessive noun within a sentence. The possessor is understood from context or can be stated explicitly with a possessive pronoun such as hänen: “Hänen metsänsä on vanha” (His/her forest is old). The phrase can stand as the subject or the object of a sentence, just like other Finnish noun phrases. For example: “Metsänsä on vanha” and “Hänen metsänsä kasvaa puissa” are typical constructions in narrative or descriptive prose.

Ambiguity can arise because the possessive suffix encodes person without naming the possessor. In most contexts, the subject or surrounding information clarifies who owns the forest. Finnish often favors such compact fused forms, making metsänsä a common example in discussions of possessive suffixes and noun phrases.

See also: Finnish grammar, possessive suffixes, noun phrases, syntax of ownership.