niitä

Niitä is a Finnish word that functions as the partitive plural form of the pronoun ne, which translates roughly to “they” or “those.” Niitä is used to refer to several items or persons that have been mentioned or are understood from context, especially when the reference is indefinite, partial, or not treated as a complete whole. In English, it corresponds to phrases like “some of them” or simply “them” depending on the context.

Grammatically, niinたい is the partitive plural of ne and appears when the object of the sentence is not treated as a complete unit, when expressing quantity, or when negation or ongoing action is involved. The partitive is a central feature of Finnish syntax and affects how verbs relate to their objects, including in negative clauses.

Common uses include:

- Indefinite quantity: Tarvitsen niitä. (I need some of them / I need them.)

- Existence or possession with a non-total amount: Meillä on niitä enemmän. (We have more of them.)

- Negation or non-durative action: En nähnyt niitä. (I did not see them.)

- Referring back to previously mentioned items in a broader sense: Niitä ei ole paljon. (There aren’t many of them.)

Niitä contrasts with other forms of ne such as the nominative ne (they) and the genitive niiden (their). It is closely related to how Finnish uses the partitive case to mark non-totality, ongoing processes, or indefiniteness in object references. While the exact choice of pronoun form depends on context, usein niistä, niihin, or niissä may appear in other cases to refer to “of them,” “to them,” or “in them,” respectively.