The genitive plural is the most complex of the Finnish case forms. The most
common endings are -den (which can always be changed to -tten) and -en,
which are normally added after the ending -i- of the plural stem (§16, §26).
In some declension types the ending -ten is also used, added to the consonant
stem of the singular (especially in ihminen words, §20.1). It is usually worth
comparing the formation of the genitive plural with that of the partitive
plural.
The genitive plural ending is -den if the partitive plural ending is -ta ~ -
tä (i.e. if the inflectional stem ends in two vowels, and also in some
monosyllabic words, §32.2).
The genitive, possessive suffixes and the accusative 93
Basic Inflectional Cf. § Partitive Genitive
form stem plural plural
(gen. sing.)
maa country maa/n – ma/i/ta ma/i/den
puu tree, wood puu/n – pu/i/ta pu/i/den
vapaa free vapaa/n – vapa/i/ta vapa/i/den
este obstacle estee/n 19 este/i/tä este/i/den
peite cover peittee/n 19 peitte/i/tä peitte/i/den
hammas tooth hampaa/n 20.3 hampa/i/ta hampa/i/den
hidas slow hitaa/n 20.3 hita/i/ta hita/i/den
korkea high korkea/n – korke/i/ta korke/i/den
tärkeä important tärkeä/n – tärke/i/tä tärke/i/den
asia matter asia/n – asio/i/ta asio/i/den
lukija reader lukija/n – lukijo/i/ta lukijo/i/den
tavara thing tavara/n – tavaro/i/ta tavaro/i/den
peruna potato peruna/n – peruno/i/ta peruno/i/den
ankkuri anchor ankkuri/n – ankkure/i/ta ankkure/i/den
(~ankkuri/en)
kukkula hill kukkula/n – kukkulo/i/ta kukkulo/i/den
Compare ma/i/den ~ ma/i/tten, este/i/den ~ este/i/tten, korke/i/den ~ korke/
i/tten, etc.
Basic Inflectional Cf. § Partitive Genitive
form stem plural plural
(gen. sing.)
katto roof kato/n – katto/j/a katto/j/en
karhu bear karhu/n – karhu/j/a karhu/j/en
kala fish kala/n – kalo/j/a kalo/j/en
muna egg muna/n – mun/i/a mun/i/en
isä father isä/n – is/i/ä is/i/en
tunti hour tunni/n – tunte/j/a tunti/en
lasi glass lasi/n – lase/j/a lasi/en
ovi door ove/n 18.2 ov/i/a ov/i/en
The ending -den can always be replaced by the ending -tten.
The genitive plural ending is -en if the partitive plural ending is -a ~ -ä
(i.e. if the inflectional stem ends in a consonant followed by a short
vowel, and also in some polysyllabic words, §32.2).
94 Finnish: An Essential Grammar
Basic Inflectional Cf. § Partitive Genitive
form stem plural plural
(gen. sing.)
kaikki all kaike/n 18.2 kaikk/i/a kaikk/i/en
kieli language kiele/n 18.3 kiel/i/ä kiel/i/en
sieni mushroom siene/n 18.3 sien/i/ä sien/i/en
käsi hand käde/n 18.4 käs/i/ä käs/i/en
viisi five viide/n 18.4 viis/i/ä viis/i/en
hevonen horse hevose/n 20.1 hevos/i/a hevos/i/en
nainen woman naise/n 20.1 nais/i/a nais/i/en
kokous meeting kokoukse/n 20.2 kokouks/i/a kokouks/i/en
sormus ring sormukse/n 20.2 sormuks/i/a sormuks/i/en
totuus truth totuude/n 20.4 totuuks/i/a totuuks/i/en
vaikeus difficulty vaikeude/n 20.4 vaikeuks/i/a vaikeuks/i/en
avain key avaime/n 20.5 avaim/i/a avaim/i/en
työtön unemployed työttömä/n 20.6 työttöm/i/ä työttöm/i/en
askel pace askele/n 20.7 askel/i/a askel/i/en
mies man miehe/n 20.8 mieh/i/ä mieh/i/en
hedelmä fruit hedelmä/n – hedelm/i/ä hedelm/i/en
sopiva suitable sopiva/n – sopiv/i/a sopiv/i/en
hämärä dim hämärä/n – hämär/i/ä hämär/i/en
asema station asema/n – asem/i/a asem/i/en
opettaja teacher opettaja/n – opettaj/i/a opettaj/i/en
aurinko sun auringo/n – aurinko/j/a aurinko/j/en
ammatti profession ammati/n – ammatte/j/a ammatti/en
päällikkö chief päällikö/n – päällikkö/j/ä päällikkö/j/en
In many words of three or more syllables both -den and -en are possible, but
in some words the effect of consonant gradation must then be noted:
päällikö/i/den ~ päällikkö/j/en, ammate/i/den ~ ammatti/en, ankkure/i/
den ~ ankkuri/en.
Sometimes the genitive plural can also be formed using the ending -
ten, which is added to a basic form ending in a consonant (§32.1, group
(c)), or to a consonant stem formed after the final vowel has been dropped
(§32.1, group (b)). This ending is particularly common with ihminen words
(§20.1).
Sometimes the genitive plural ending is -ten, which is added to a
consonant stem.
The genitive, possessive suffixes and the accusative 95
Basic Inflectional Cf. § Genitive Or (for most
form stem plural types seldom)
(gen. sing.)
kieli language kiele/n 18.3 kiel/ten ~ kiel/i/en
pieni small piene/n 18.3 pien/ten ~ pien/i/en
nuori young nuore/n 18.3 nuor/ten ~ nuor/i/en
nainen woman naise/n 20.1 nais/ten ~ (nais/i/en)
ruotsalainen Swedish ruotsalaise/n 20.1 ruotsalais/ten ~(ruotsalais/i/en)
ostos purchase ostokse/n 20.2 ostos/ten ~ ostoks/i/en
hammas tooth hampaa/n 20.3 hammas/ten ~ hampa/i/den
kallis expensive kallii/n 20.3 kallis/ten ~ kalli/i/den
puhelin telephone puhelime/n 20.5 puhelin/ten ~ puhelim/i/en
askel pace askele/n 20.7 askel/ten ~ askel/i/en
mies man miehe/n 20.8 mies/ten ~ mieh/i/en
