Plural Partitive vs Plural Genitive
How can we compare the plural partitive vs plural genitive? Can one of them help you learn the other? Find out now!
1. Plural Partitive -IA → Plural Genitive -IEN
When the plural partitive’s ending is -ia/iä, the plural genitive’s ending is –ien.
| Nominative | Partitive | Genitive | Nominative | Partitive | Genitive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| kynä | kyniä | kynien | metsä | metsiä | metsien |
| kesä | kesiä | kesien | leipä | leipiä | leipien |
| pöytä | pöytiä | pöytien | ystävä | ystäviä | ystävien |
| koira | koiria | koirien | kukka | kukkia | kukkien |
| muna | munia | munien | loma | lomia | lomien |
| tumma | tummia | tummien | tukka | tukkia | tukkien |
| järvi | järviä | järvien | sieni | sieniä | sienien |
| uusi | uusia | uusien | vuosi | vuosia | vuosien |
| sormi | sormia | sormien | lehti | lehtiä | lehtien |
| pelaaja | pelaajia | pelaajien | ohjelma | ohjelmia | ohjelmien |
2. Plural Partitive -JA → Plural Genitive -JEN
When the plural partitive’s ending is -ja/jä, the plural genitive’s ending is -jen/-jen.
| Nominative | Partitive | Genitive | Nominative | Nominative | Genitive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sana | sanoja | sanojen | hinta | hintoja | hintojen |
| kissa | kissoja | kissojen | marja | marjoja | marjojen |
| kirja | kirjoja | kirjojen | kala | kaloja | kalojen |
This rule doesn’t work for nouns with a plural partitive ending in -eja/ejä (hotelli : hotelleja : hotellejen → hotelleiden; metalli : metalleja : metallejen → metallien).
3. Plural Partitive -ITA → Plural Genitive -IDEN / -ITTEN
When the plural partitive’s ending is -ita/-itä, the plural genitive’s ending is -iden/-itten. Of these two, –iden is more common (except in some spoken language areas), but both forms are equally “correct”.
| Nominative | Partitive | Genitive #1 | Genitive #2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| huone | huoneita | huoneiden | huoneitten |
| perhe | perheitä | perheiden | perheitten |
| kirje | kirjeitä | kirjeiden | kirjeitten |
| kone | koneita | koneiden | koneitten |
| parveke | parvekkeita | parvekkeiden | parvekkeitten |
| koe | kokeita | kokeiden | kokeitten |
| maa | maita | maiden | maitten |
| suu | suita | suiden | suitten |
| vapaa | vapaita | vapaiden | vapaitten |
| harmaa | harmaita | harmaiden | harmaitten |
| tie | teitä | teiden | teitten |
| yö | öitä | öiden | öitten |
| opiskelija | opiskelijoita | opiskelijoiden | opiskelijoitten |
| kaveri | kavereita | kavereiden | kavereitten |
| rikas | rikkaita | rikkaiden | rikkaitten |
| kaunis | kauniita | kauniiden | kauniitten |
| radio | radioita | radioiden | radioitten |
4. Words with a Consonant Stem
Words that have a consonant stem, will have two options in the plural genitive. These words can end in a consonant in their basic form (e.g. keskus, mies, avain) or in some conjugated form (e.g. kiel-tä, nais-ta).
Which of the two genitives is the most common can be a little unpredictable. Below, the most common of the two has been bolded. My advice would be to learn the most common by heart and ignore the other one at the beginning of your plural genitive studies.
| Nominative | Partitive | Genitive #1 | Genitive #2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| keskus | keskuksia | keskuksien | keskusten |
| yritys | yrityksiä | yrityksien | yritysten |
| vastaus | vastauksia | vastauksien | vastausten |
| avain | avaimia | avaimien | avainten |
| soitin | soittimia | soittimien | soitinten |
| mies | miehiä | miehien | miesten |
| nainen | naisia | naisien | naisten |
| kieli | kieliä | kielien | kielten |
| vuori | vuoria | vuorien | vuorten |
| käsi | käsiä | käsien | kätten |
| vesi | vesiä | vesien | vetten |
That’s it for this plural partitive vs plural genitive comparison!
Moi! I have a doubt: as all we know monikon genetiivi that finish in r, l and n haave 2 genetiivimuotuoa. And specially in the case de ”Kuningatar” is ”kuningaTTarien”/ ”kuningaTarten”. Why, the first ole is strong (tt) and the second one weak? Thank you do much.
Oh excellent! I have been wondering this for other words for a while. Can’t remember the examples of course. 🙂
nvm. I can’t remember the exact example.
but is this the right way to think of syllables?
a-ja-tel-la
a-ja-tte-len
No, not too much confusion! I think I get it.
This will help with pronunciation, I think, and better being able to guess what sounds right
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