Finnish cases for beginners

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MillMaths
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Finnish cases for beginners

Postby MillMaths » 2011-09-03, 9:40

When I first started learning Finnish, I was confused by how Finnish uses cases differently from how an English speaker might expect. I was reminded of this after reading two recent threads started by Jnɨɨñɨ in this subforum. This thread is intended to highlight some of these differences for beginners like Jnɨɨñɨ and me. Jnɨɨñɨ has some examples (from the book by Fred Karlsson, Finnish: An Essential Grammar)) in his threads on the translative case and directional verbs. Here are some more examples – guess the case in each case: :)

  1. He asks me who I am. → Hän kysyy (minä), kuka olen.
    answer: minulta (ablative)
  2. Please answer the question. → Ole hyvä ja vastaa (kysymys).
    answer: kysymykseen (illative)
  3. Thanks you for the help! → Kiitos (apu)!
    answer: avusta (elative)
  4. I put my gloves on my hands and my shoes on my feet. → Laitoin hansikkaani (käsi)-ni ja kenkäni (jalka)-ni.
    answer: käteeni, jalkaani (illative, singular!)
Please correct any mistakes, and add more examples for beginners. :)

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