When is each accusative ending used? We can formulate three rules:
(1)(a) Luen kirja/t. I’ll read the books.
Kansa valitsee The people elect the Members of
kansanedustaja/t. Parliament.
Vien kirjee/t postiin. I will take the letters to the post.
Isä vie lapse/t kouluun. Father takes the children to school.
Vie lapse/t kouluun. Take the children to school.
Lapse/t vietiin kouluun. The children were taken to school.
Tunnetko nämä maa/t? Do you know these countries?
Sylvi avasi ikkuna/t. Sylvi opened the windows.
Hallitus korvaa vahingo/t. The government will repay the
damage.
Huomenna ostan uude/t Tomorrow I will buy a pair of new
kengä/t. shoes.
Minun täytyy ostaa kirja/t. I must buy the books.
1 Translator’s note: structures like this, with a present tense resultative verb+an accusative
object, often correspond to the English future form with ‘will’ rather than the simple present,
otherwise the resultative sense is lost. (Finnish has no equivalent future form.)
(1) The -t accusative always marks the object
(a) in the plural
(b) in personal pronouns.
The genitive, possessive suffixes and the accusative 103
The use of the plural -t here follows exactly the same rules as the plural -t for
the subject (§25.3).
When they function as the object, personal pronouns take the ending -t:
minu/t, sinu/t, häne/t; meidä/t, teidä/t, heidä/t.
(1)(b)Risto vei minu/t elokuviin. Risto took me to the cinema.
Vie minu/t elokuviin! Take me to the cinema!
Oletko nähnyt häne/t? Have you seen him/her?
Neiti Mäkinen saattaa teidä/t Miss Mäkinen will escort you to
ovelle. the door.
Saatanko sinu/t kotiin? Shall I take you home?
Kyllä Tuula tuntee heidä/t. Tuula knows them all right.
Tuo häne/t tänne! Bring him/her here!
Minu/t vietiin elokuviin. I was taken to the cinema.
If the object is singular (and is not one of the personal pronouns minä :
minu/t, sinä : sinu/t, hän : häne/t) there are two possibilities. Sometimes the
ending is -n, and sometimes there is no ending (Ø). A singular object takes no
ending if the predicate verb is first or second person imperative, passive, or a
verb expressing obligation with a subject in the genitive (§35). Otherwise a
singular object takes the ending -n.
(Minä) ostan kirja/n. I will buy a/the book.
Tunsitko Olli Nuutise/n? Did you know Olli Nuutinen?
Isä vie lapse/n kouluun. Father takes the child to school.
Irma avaa ikkuna/n. Irma opens the window.
Join kupi/n kahvia ja söin I drank a cup of coffee and ate a
leivokse/n. tart.
Hallitukse/n muodostaa Paavo The government is/will be formed
Lipponen. by Paavo Lipponen.
Ilkka ostaa sormukse/n Ilkka will buy a ring for his wife.
vaimolleen.
Pekka Pekkanen saa paika/n. Pekka Pekkanen gets/will get the job.
Poliisit pysäyttävät liikentee/n. The police stop the traffic.
Kommunistit esittävät uude/n The communists put forward a new
ehdotukse/n. proposal.
Rakennamme tehtaa/n We (will) build a/the factory at
Tampereelle. Tampere.
(2) A singular accusative object
(a) usually takes -n
(b) takes no ending with verbs in first and second person
imperative, passive verbs, and some verbs of obligation
104 Finnish: An Essential Grammar
Osta kirja! Buy (sing.) a book!
Ostakaa kirja! Buy (pl.) a book!
Ostakaamme kirja! Let us buy a book!
Kirjoita kirje loppuun! Finish writing the letter! (lit. ‘Write
the letter to the end!’)
Viekää koira pois! Take (pl.) the dog away!
Ostettiin kirja. A book was bought. (‘One bought
a book.’)
Ostetaan kirja. Let’s buy a book. (‘One buys a book.’)
Koira vietiin pois. The dog was taken away.
onko kirje kirjoitettu loppuun? Is the letter finished?
Kalle Nieminen nähtiin viimeksi Kalle Nieminen was last seen in
Kuopiossa. Kuopio.
Minun täytyy ostaa kirja. I must buy a/the book.
Sinun on pakko viedä kirje You have to take the letter to the
postiin. post.
Nyt koira on vietävä ulos. Now the dog must be taken out.
Teidän pitäisi tavata Raija. You should meet Raija.
Meidän täytyy hyväksyä tämä. We must accept this.
The third important accusative rule concerns numerals:
Kadulla näin kolme ihmistä. I saw three people in the street.
Saanko kaksi tuoppia olutta? Can I have two tankards of beer?
Väinö söi kuusi appelsiinia. Väinö ate six oranges.
Kansa valitsee kaksisataa The people elect two hundred
kansanedustajaa. Members of Parliament.
But:
Saanko yhde/n kupi/n kahvia? Can I have one cup of coffee?
Reijo lainaa yhde/n kirja/n. Reijo borrows one book.
Note once again the point made above (§36) concerning possessive suffixes:
because of the omission of the final consonant some forms coincide.
Without possessive suffix With possessive suffix
Ostin auto/n. Ostin auto/ni.
I bought a/the car. I bought my car.
Ostin auto/t. Ostin auto/ni.
I bought the cars. I bought my cars.
Ostin auto/n moottorin. Ostin auto/ni moottorin.
I bought the engine of the car. I bought the engine of my car.
(3) Numerals (except yksi ‘one’) have no accusative ending.
The genitive, possessive suffixes and the accusative 105
In conclusion it should be stressed that the partitive rules always take
precedence over the accusative rules. For example, in negative sentences the
object is always in the partitive regardless of what the accusative ending
would be in the corresponding affirmative sentences.
Affirmative (accusative) Negative (partitive)
Luen kirja/t. En lue kirjo/j/a.
I read the books. I don’t read books.
Tunnen nämä maa/t. En tunne nä/i/tä ma/i/ta.
I know these countries. I don’t know these countries.
Risto vie minu/t elokuviin. Risto ei vie minu/a elokuviin.
Risto will take me to the cinema. Risto will not take me to the cinema.
Näen häne/t. En näe hän/tä.
I see him/her. I don’t see him/her.
Ostan kirja/n. En osta kirja/a.
I (will) buy a/the book. I will not buy a/the book.
Pekka Virtanen saa paika/n. Pekka Virtanen ei saa paikka/a.
Pekka Virtanen will get the job. Pekka Virtanen will not get the job.
Sinun on pakko viedä kirje Sinun ei ole pakko viedä kirje/ttä
postiin. postiin.
You have to take the letter to You do not have to take the letter to
the post. the post.
Pertti ostaa neljä vihkoa. Pertti ei osta neljä/ä vihkoa.
Pertti buys/will buy four Pertti does/will not buy four
notebooks. notebooks.
Juotko kaksi kuppia kahvia? Etkö juo kah/ta kuppia kahvia?
Will you drink two cups of coffee? Won’t you drink two cups of coffee?
