yksikköpronominia

Yksikköpronominia, or singular pronouns, are words that stand in for a single person, place, thing, or idea. In Finnish, these are primarily divided into personal pronouns and demonstrative pronouns, each serving a distinct function.

Personal pronouns in the singular are minä (I), sinä (you), hän (he/she). These pronouns refer to specific individuals. Minä denotes the speaker, sinä refers to the person being addressed, and hän is used for a third person, regardless of gender. Finnish personal pronouns decline according to case, changing form to indicate their grammatical function within a sentence. For instance, minä becomes minua in the partitive case or minun in the genitive case.

Demonstrative pronouns in the singular, such as tämä (this), tuo (that), and se (it), point to or identify something specific. Tämä refers to something close to the speaker, tuo indicates something further away, and se is a general pronoun for things or sometimes people. Like personal pronouns, demonstrative pronouns also inflect for case, adapting their form based on their role in the sentence. For example, tämä can become tätä in the partitive or tämän in the genitive. These singular pronouns are fundamental elements of Finnish grammar, crucial for clear and precise communication.