【芬兰语语法】§76.5 THIRD INFINITIVE ADESSIVE AND ABESSIVE

 The adessive indicates means, and sometimes manner.

Voitin miljoonan veikkaa/ma/lla.

I won a million by betting.

Sinne pääsee mukavasti kävele/mä/llä.

One can get there easily on foot (‘by walking’).

192 Finnish: An Essential Grammar

Hän elää kirjoitta/ma/lla kirjoja.

He/she lives by writing books.

Kieliä oppii parhaiten puhu/ma/lla.

One learns languages best by talking.

The meaning of the abessive is ‘without’; the object takes the partitive (cf.

§33.2). If there is a subject it takes the genitive, and if it is a personal

pronoun the verb also takes a possessive suffix.

Sehän on sano/ma/tta/kin selvää.

That goes without saying (‘is clear without one saying’).

Syö/mä/ttä ja juo/ma/tta ei elä.

Without eating and drinking one cannot live.

Kalle teki sen (meidän) tietä/mä/ttä/mme.

Kalle did it without our knowing.

Myyjä tuli sisään Leenan huomaa/ma/tta mitään.

The seller came in without Leena noticing anything.

Koira karkasi hänen huomaa/ma/tta/an.

The dog ran away without his/her noticing.

The forms in -ma- ~ -mä- are also used adjectivally in what is called the

agent construction (§84). A few examples:

Kalle/n osta/ma auto

the car Kalle bought/bought by Kalle

Oletko istunut Kalle/n osta/ma/ssa autossa?

Have you sat in the car Kalle bought?

En ole nähnyt Kalle/n osta/ma/a autoa.

I have not seen the car Kalle bought