The partitive case is one of the most widely used cases in Finnish. It is used to talk about uncountable or indefinite quantities of something. To form the partitive case, suffixes like -a or -ta are added depending on the word's ending and vowel harmony. The partitive case is used in greetings, with plural quantities, with pronouns like "much" and "little", when listing items, with certain verbs, and to talk about ongoing actions or substances like weather.

1. PARTITIVE
CASEONE OF THE MOST
WIDELY USED CASES
IN FINNISH

2. HOW TO FORM IT?
 IF THE WORD ENDS IN A VOWEL (BUT NOT IN AN -
I), JUST ADD –A OR –Ä (DEPENDING ON THE
VOWEL HARMONY):
 MAITO  MAITOA (=MILK)
 LEIPÄ  LEIPÄÄ (=BREAD)

3. HOW TO FORM IT?
 IF THE WORD ENDS IN A CONSONANT OR TWO
VOWELS, ADD –TA OR –TÄ (DEPENDING ON THE
VOWEL HARMONY):
VOI  VOITA (=BUTTER)
YÖ  YÖTÄ (=NIGHT)
OLUT  OLUTTA (=BEER)

4. HOW TO FORM IT?
 IF THE WORD ENDS IN –E OR –SI, ADD –TTA OR –
TTÄ (DEPENDING ON THE VOWEL HARMONY):
HUONE (=ROOM)  HUONETTA
UUSI VUOSI (= NEW YEAR)  UUTTA VUOTTA (TAKE
THE –SI OFF FIRST!)

5. HOW TO FORM IT?
 IF THE WORD ENDS IN –NEN, TAKE THE –NEN OFF
AND ADD –STA:
PÄÄSIÄINEN (=EASTER)  PÄÄSIÄISTÄ
LASKIAINEN (=PRE-LENT FESTIVAL)  LASKIAISTA
LOPPIAINEN (=EPIPHANY)  LOPPIAISTA

6. WHEN IS IT USED?
 IN GREETINGS:
HYVÄÄ JOULUA! (=MERRY CHRISTMAS)
PALJON ONNEA! (=CONGRATULATIONS)
HAUSKAA JUHANNUSTA! (=HAPPY MIDSUMMER)

7. WHEN IS IT USED?
 AS PLURAL WITH NUMBERS MORE THAN ONE:
2 KAHVIA (=2 COFFEES)
3 OLUTTA (=3 BEERS)
4 JÄÄTELÖÄ (=4 ICE CREAMS)

8. WHEN IS IT USED?
 WITH QUANTITATIVE PRONOUNS:
MONTA KAHVIA = MANY COFFEES
VÄHÄN KAHVIA = A LITTLE COFFEE
PALJON KAHVIA = A LOT OF COFFEE
PARI KAHVIA = A COUPLE OF COFFEES

9. WHEN IS IT USED?
 IN LISTS AND LABELS:
SHOPPING LISTS
MILK CARTONS
FOOD PACKAGES
RESTAURANT MENUS

10. WHEN IS IT USED?
 WITH CERTAIN VERBS:
MINÄ PUHUN ENGLANTIA. (I SPEAK ENGLISH.)
SINÄ SOITAT KITARAA. (YOU PLAY THE GUITAR.)
HÄN RAKASTAA MATTIA. (SHE LOVES MATTI.)

11. WHEN IS IT USED?
 AS AN OBJECT IN A SENTENCE (when talking
about a continuing process or something
undefined):
MINÄ LUEN KIRJAA. (I READ A BOOK.)
SINÄ OSTAT RUOKAA. (YOU BUY FOOD.)
HÄN JUO OLUTTA. (HE DRINKS BEER.)
BUT: MINÄ OSTAN KIRJAN. = I BUY A (CERTAIN,
PARTICULAR) BOOK.)

12. WHEN IS IT USED?
 IN NEGATIVE SENTENCES INDICATING NOT
HAVING SOMETHING:
MINULLA EI OLE AUTOA. = I DON’T HAVE A CAR.
TALOSSA EI OLE HISSIÄ. = THERE’S NO ELEVATOR IN
THE HOUSE.
LAURALLA EI OLE KISSAA. = LAURA DOES NOT HAVE
A CAT.
BUT: MINULLA ON AUTO. = I HAVE A CAR.

13. WHEN IS IT USED?
 WHEN TALKING ABOUT WEATHER OR
SUBSTANCES:
ON AURINKOISTA/SATEISTA/TUULISTA/PAKKASTA.
(IT’S SUNNY/RAINY/WINDY/FROSTY.)
AURINKOINEN = SUNNY
SATEINEN= RAINY
TUULINEN = WINDY
PAKKANEN = FROST OR FREEZE