Long words in plural partitive

I don't even have a general post about the formation of plural partitive, but just for the fun of it, here's something about the words that have three or more syllables. The partitive ending depends on the ending of the word. Sometimes it even whether the word is a noun or an adjective.

In short, you add the plural marker and the partitive ending to the singular stem. Some vowel changes might happen, but you can always see that there's the i (or j) and either a or ta.

The plural partitive ending can be one of these:

ia as in koira > koiria (dogs) or suomalainen > suomalaisia (Finns)
ja as in kissa > kissoja (cats) or tomaatti > tomaatteja (tomatoes)
ita as in kone > koneita (machines) or porkkana > porkkanoita (carrots)

Which vowel you have before the plural i or j is another thing.

Also, sometimes there are two possible partitive endings, but I've chosen the one that is more commonly used. For example, you can say either mansikkoja or mansikoita, but mansikoita is more common.

1. In general, if the (3 or more syllable) word ends with o, ö, u or y, just add -ita or -ja. Usually both are correct, but the other one sounds a bit better.

vartalo > vartaloita (bodies)
numero > numeroita (numbers)
laatikko > laatikoita (boxes)
henkilö > henkilöitä (people)
jäätelötötterö > jäätelötötteröitä (ice cream cones)
kävely > kävelyitä (walks)
puraisu > puraisuja (bites)

2. Also these long words ending with a or ä have -oita or -öitä in plural partitive:

-la or -lä

ravintola > ravintoloita (restaurants)
kylpylä > kylpylöitä (spas)

-na or -nä

porkkana > porkkanoita (carrots)
peruna > perunoita (potatoes)
lakana > lakanoita (sheets)
pähkinä > pähkinöitä (nuts)

-ra or -rä

makkara > makkaroita (sausages)
kitara > kitaroita (guitars)
kihara > kiharoita (curls)
ympyrä > ympyröitä (circles)

-kka or -kkä

mansikka > mansikoita (strawberries)
mustikka > mustikoita (blueberries /bilberries)
kirsikka > kirsikoita (cherries)
kännykkä > kännyköitä (mobile phones)

-ija or -ijä

opiskelija > opiskelijoita (students)
tutkija > tutkijoita (researchers, scholars)
halailija > halailijoita (huggers)
näyttelijä > näyttelijöitä (actors)

3. The plural partitive ending is -ia or -iä with these long words:

-nen, -in, -ton or -tön

ihminen > ihmisiä (people, humans)
suomalainen > suomalaisia (Finns)
puhelin > puhelimia (phones)
koditon > kodittomia (homeless, plural)
älytön > älyttömiä (insane, plural)

-os and -as, if it's pineapple.:)

kokous > kokouksia (meetings)
rakennus > rakennuksia (buildings)
ananas > ananaksia (pineapples)

-ma or -mä

asema > asemia (stations)
elämä > elämiä (lives)

-va or -vä

kanava > kanavia (channels)
painava > painavia (heavy, plural)
mukava > mukavia (nice, comfortable, plural)
rasittava > rasittavia (annoying, plural)
ystävä > ystäviä (friends)

-aja or -äjä

opettaja > opettajia (teachers)
kuljettaja > kuljettajia (drivers)

Notice that some adjectives (even if they end with la, na or ra) also belong to this category.

kamala > kamalia (horrible, plural)
matala > matalia (low, plural)
ihana > ihania (lovely, plural)
kihara > kiharia (curly, plural)

4. The plural partitive ending is -eita or -eitä with these long words:

-li or -ri

sipuli > sipuleita (onions)
kameli > kameleita (camel)
lääkäri > lääkäreitä (doctors)
pilleri > pillereitä (pills)

-nut or -nyt

väsynyt > väsyneitä (tired, plural)
kadonnut > kadonneita (lost, plural)

-e

parveke > parvekkeita (balconies)
esite > esitteitä (brochures)

5. The plural partitive ending is -aita or -äitä.

as or äs

arvokas > arvokkaita (valuable, plural)
älykäs > älykkäitä (smart, plural)

6. The plural partitive ending is -eja or -ejä.

-ti, -ni, -li and -vi

tomaatti > tomaatteja (tomatoes)
timantti > timantteja (diamonds)
banaani > banaaneja (bananas)
fossiili > fossiileja (fossils)
kirahvi > kirahveja (giraffes)

So, in order to know the correct ending, you have to do...

think about the number of syllables in the word.
think about the first vowel, if the word has two syllables and it ends with an a or ä.
think about the end of the word.
know if the word is an adjective that just happens to have a certain ending in plural partitive.
know if the word is a compound word in which case you only look at the last part of the word.

All these words end with la, but have three kinds of plural partitive endings:

kala > kaloja (fish, plural)
rulla > rullia (rolls)
kamala > kamalia (horrible, plural)
ravintola > ravintoloita (restaurants)
mustekala > mustekaloja (squids)

Lue lisää:

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.

Random Finnish Lesson - a blog by Hanna Männikkölahti

Thursday, May 21, 2020