This article describes the usage and the formation of the partitive plural case, aka monikon partitiivi.

Nouns (e.g. koulu) can be inflected in the plural of each of the Finnish cases. We have the T-plural (koulut), plural missä (kouluissa), mistä (kouluista), mihin (kouluihin), plural genitive (koulujen), etc. Generally, the plural partitive will be the FIRST plural case you learn after the T-plural. Take these cases one at a time. They can be overwhelming!

1. Use of the Partitive Plural

1.1. Generally after the word “paljon”

The general rule goes that the singular partitive is used after “monta“, while the plural partitive is used after the word “paljon“. There isn’t always a big difference between those two, e.g. “monta kirjaa” and “paljon kirjoja” generally mean the same thing.

There are certain exceptions to the “paljon + plural partitive” rule (e.g. paljon rahaa, paljon rakkautta), when the main word of the phrase is something abstract or uncountable. In addition, paljon isn’t used for the subject of a sentence (e.g. Paljon ihmisiä myöhästyvät. > Monet ihmiset myöhästyvät.) Learn more about paljon and monet.

1.2. To express indefinite amounts

If you want to express that there are many of something, but don’t want to get into the specifics of how many, you can use the partitive plural. You can do that in several sentence types.

• In the existential sentence “Torilla on ihmisiä“, the partitive expresses that there are multiple people, but doesn’t give any information about the quantity of said people.
• In object sentences like “Ostan omenoita“, the partitive plural expresses that you buy multiple apples without specifying the amount.

1.3. To express indefinite amounts of time

1.4. To express the plural of numbers

Yes, numbers can also be inflected into the partitive plural! This is mostly the case for 10, 100, 1000 etc.

1.5. For the complement (predikatiivi) of a plural subject

You can read more about the complement elsewhere. Below you can find some examples of sentences with their complement in the plural partitive.

1.6. With negative sentences

Regular negative object sentences always have their object in the partitive. That can be the partitive singular when we’re dealing with a singular thing, or the partitive plural when there are multiple things.

1.7. With partitive verbs

Some verbs always require the object to appear in the partitive case. These are called “partitive verbs“. You will need to learn these by heart, because English doesn’t have anything comparable. You can use both the singular and the plural partitive with partitive verbs, depending on the amount of the object.

2. The Formation of the Plural Partitive Case

In general, the plural marker is -i-. For the partitive plural, this ending can be -ia/-iä, ita/-itä or -ja/-jä. What follows is the plural partitive formation for short words. The partitive plural of long words will be addressed in another article.

2.1. Words ending in -u/-y, -o/-ö: add -ja/jä

2.2. Words ending in -ä: replace the -ä with -iä

2.3. Words ending in -a

I call the two groups of words ending in -a by the names “kissa-words” and “koira-words”. These two words are easy to remember and each belongs to a different group of words ending in -a. If you can remember “kissa – kissoja” and “koira – koiria” and apply that rule to other, similar words, you’re on your way to mastering the partitive plural!

2.3.1. Words of two syllables (kissa-words)

Kissa-words are words of two syllables. Their final letter is -a. In the first syllable, you will have either -e-, -i- or -a-. In other words, the vowels of these words can look like:

• a…a (kana, maksa, sana, marja)
• e…a (herra, tela, teema, leija)
• i…a (kissa, tina, hinta, silta)

When you inflect these words in the plural partitive, you will replace the final -a with -oja.

2.3.2. Words of two syllables (koira-words)

Koira-words are also words of two syllables. Their final letter is also -a. They differ when it comes to the first syllable: for koira-words you will have either -o-, or -u- in the first syllable. In other words, the vowels of these words can look like:

• o…a (koira, konna, honda, nokka)
• u…a (kukka, sukka, suora, juoma)

For koira-words, you will replace the final -a with -ia.

2.4. Words ending in -i

Finnish has many groups of words ending in -i. Not all of them behave same way when you inflect them. Please read this separate article on old and new words ending in -i if you’re not familiar with this concept.

2.4.1. New words ending in -i: replace the -i with -eja/ejä

Please note that not all new words ending in -i belong to this category. This rule is specifically for two syllable words ending in -i. Longer words will not always follow this same rule. For example, paperi and lääkäri will become papereita and lääkäreitä (see section 2.1.)

2.4.2. Old words ending in -i: add -a/-ä to the basic form

All old words follow the same rule, regardless of any other factors.

For the singular partitive, you learned that there’s separate rules for old words ending in -si, and old words ending in -li, -ni or -ri. Luckily, in the plural partitive, all these words are grouped together and simply get an -a/-ä added to their basic form.

Find out more about the inflection of the different types of words ending in –i! This table contains three different types:

1. Words that inflect like OVI
2. Words that inflect like PIENI
3. Words that inflect like UUSI

2.5. Words ending in -e: add -ita/itä

The above “add -ita/itä” is a little inaccurate, but it’s the easiest way to think of it. If you want to be technically correct, you should think of it as adding -ta/tä to the strong plural stem of the word.

2.6. Words ending in -nen: replace the -nen with -sia/-siä

Again, this rule can also be rephrased by saying that you

1. add -ia/iä to the consonant stem of the word (e.g. nais-, sinis-, ihmis-) OR
2. add -a/ä to the plural stem for the word (naisi-, sinisi-, ihmisi-)

I think the concept of having all these different stems just makes things more complicated. We’re here to learn how to use Finnish, not purely learn grammar. I think removing the -nen and adding -sia is much easier to remember.

2.7. Words ending in two vowels: remove the last vowel and add -ita/-itä

2.8. Words ending in diphthongs -ie, -uo, -yö: drop the first vowel + ita/itä

This rule only applies to words of one syllable. You will remove the first vowel of the diphthong, so for the word työ, you will remove the -y- and then add -itä to the end: töitä.

2.9. Longer words ending in two different vowels -io, -iö, -eo:

These words would actually belong on the page where I talk about the plural partitive of long words, but some of these words are so common that they are usually taught at the same time as short words. For these, you just add -ita to the end of the word without making any changes to the word itself.

2.10. Words ending in a consonant

2.10.1. Words ending in -s

Please look at this overview of words ending in -s: here.

1. Words ending in -us, -ys, -os, -ös: -ksia
2. Words ending in -is: -iita (small group, section 1)
3. Words ending in -is: -iksia (more common, section 2)
4. Words ending in -as: -aita (more here)
5. Words ending in -as: -aksia (small group, last section)

2.10.2. Words ending in -ton/-tön

Words ending in -ton/-tön will get -ia added to their stem, which ends in -ttoma- (e.g. rahattoman, rahattomassa, rahattomalle). Note that we use the strong form of the word.

2.10.3. Words ending in -tar

Words ending in -tar have a stem that ends in -ttare- (e.g. kuningatar : kuningattaren : kuningattarella). In the plural partitive, you will get -ttaria. Note that these words get the strong grade.

2.10.4. Words ending in -in

Words ending in -in have a stem that ends in -ime- (e.g. puhelin : puhelimessa : puhelimeen). In the plural partitive, you will get -imia. Note that these words get the strong grade.

2.10.5. Words ending in -ut

Words ending in –ut can belong to two groups. The smaller of the two are words such as olut, kevyt and ohut. In the plural partitive, these words will end in -uita.

The much larger group are NUT-participles, such as väsynyt, kuollut, mennyt and juossut. These words will have –eita in the plural partitive. As you can see, the ending of both wordtypes ending in -ut is -ita, but the vowel right before the plural -i- is different.

2.11. The partitive plural of long words

Long words follow their own set of rules. Read more about the plural partitive of long words!

3. Consonant Gradation in the Plural Partitive

The partitive plural will always be strong, both for wordtype A and wordtype B. That’s different than the partitive singular, where wordtype B words functioned with the weak grade.

I have a separate article on wordtype A.

Words with 3+ syllables (which end in -kko or -kka) are exceptions: they can have both a weak (e.g. mansikoita, tekniikoita) and a strong (e.g. mansikkoja, tekniikkoja) plural partitive form.

I have a separate article on wordtype B.

Related articles

Related posts:

Paljon Monet – Many People – Sentences So-Called Partitive Verbs – Not Always Partitive? Koira-words in the plural partitive Inflection of words like UUSI – Käsi vuosi kuukausi