When to use the Finnish nominative case in a negative sentence

Sometimes I see my students using partitive when they should use the nominative case, also known as the basic form. You need the partitive in certain negative sentences, but not always. 

Here's where you need the partitive in a negative sentence: 

Negative possessive structure:

• Minulla ei ole tätä kirjaa. - I don't have this book. 
• Miksi teillä ei ole autoa? - Why don't you (plural) have a car?

Negative object sentence:

• Minä en ole nähnyt tätä kirjaa. - I haven't seen this book. 
• Me emme tarvitse autoa. - We don't need a car.

Negative transformation sentence: 

• Minusta ei tullut lääkäriä.  - I didn't become a doctor.

Here's where you DON'T need the partitive:

Negative predicative sentence:

• Tämä ei ole se kirja, jota tarkoitin. - This is not the book that I meant.
• Tuo ei ole minun auto(ni). - That is not my car.
• Minä en ole ruotsalainen. - I'm not Swedish.

However, you need the partitive when talking about something uncountable:

• Tämä ei ole kahvia. - This is not coffee.
• Tämä viini ei ole ranskalaista. - This wine is not French.
• Tämä ei ole hauskaa. - This is not fun.

Related posts:

• Mikä or mitä?
• Describing things

About the author of Random Finnish Lesson: 

My name is Hanna Männikkölahti. I am a professional Finnish teacher who gives private online lessons and simplifies books into easy Finnish. Follow this blog, if you want to be the first one to know when I post something new.  If you want to subscribe to my newsletter, you can do it here.