tätä

Tätä is the partitive singular form of the Finnish demonstrative determiner and pronoun tämä, meaning "this." It is used when the object of a sentence is treated in the partitive case, which commonly signals non-total quantity, indefiniteness, or an ongoing or incomplete action. The partitive form räices the reference as not fully specified or not entirely realized.

In Finnish grammar, tämä has several case forms. Tämän is the genitive singular, joten sitä vastaa tämä in nominative. The partitive form of this demonstrative is tätä, and the plural partitive form is näitä (these). Tämän, tämän, tätä, näitä are thus part of a single paradigm that marks different syntactic roles rather than a separate lexical item.

Usage notes: tätä is typically employed as the direct object of a verb that requires the partitive, especially with mass or uncountable references, or when the action is ongoing or not completed. It also appears in clauses that emphasize a particular item or issue rather than its total extent. In exclamations and subordinate clauses, tätä can appear in contexts such as “Tätä en ymmärrä” (I don’t understand this) or “Olen miettinyt tätä” (I have been thinking about this).

Examples:

- Tätä en ymmärrä.

- Olemme miettineet tätä jo pitkään.

- Tätä kirjaa luen juuri nyt.

Tätä is a standard, widely used form in contemporary Finnish, and it contrasts with other demonstrative forms such as tämä (nominative), tämän (genitive), and näitä (plural partitive), each serving different grammatical and semantic functions.