partitiivinen

Partitiivinen, or the partitive case, is a grammatical form in Finnish used to mark indefiniteness, partialness, or an incomplete quantity. It also marks direct objects in certain constructions, especially with negation or continuous action, and it appears in several common syntactic contexts.

The partitive is most commonly used for: expressing an indefinite amount or a portion of something; marking the object of sentences with negation (for example, en syö omenaa, I do not eat an apple); and describing mass or uncountable nouns in a non-total sense (for instance, minulla on vähän vettä, I have a little water). It also occurs in various idioms and with verbs that convey ongoing or imperfective aspect.

Morphology and formation are varied. The partitive is created by attaching endings to the noun stem, with vowel harmony and stem class influencing the specific form. Common examples include yksikkö forms such as omenaa (from omena, apple) and vettä (from vesi, water), as well as kahvia (from kahvi, coffee). The exact suffix depends on the word, and some nouns have irregular partitive forms.

In relation to other Finnish cases, the partitive contrasts with the nominative (for subjects) and the genitive (for possession or certain object roles). It is a distinct tool for expressing non-absolute quantities, ongoing processes, and general indefiniteness, making it a central feature of Finnish grammar for conveying nuance in number and aspect.

See also: Finnish grammar, cases in Finnish, verb aspect in Finnish.