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Sentence types

Verb types connect the idea of cases and sentences. When you know what kind of sentences there are, you are able to choose which case to use.

Typically, subject is in nominative case, and object eather in genitive or partitive.

1.Verb sentence

Verb sentence consists of subject + verb (+object). It's the most common and prototypical sentence type, and can be used in various situations.

a)
Minä syön leipää.
I eat bread.
He syövät lounasta.
They eat lunch.
Hän opiskelee kirjallisuutta.
He studies literature.
b)
Minä syön leivän.
I eat a bread.
He söivät lounaan.
They ate the lunch.
c)
Minä en syö leipää.
I do not eat (any) bread.
He eivät syö lounasta.
They do not eat lunch.

As you can see, subject is always in nominative case and object is in partitive case (a,c) or gentive case(b).

The object a) in partitive case, if it's uncoutable or an abstract entity b) in genitive case, if countable.

If the sentence is negative, c) the object is in partitive case. Because ei is a verb, it conjugates in person. The other verb is without any endings (the stem).

2. Kopula sentence

Kopula sentence consists of subject + kopula + predicative. Kopula sentence says, what someting is. It can be used to describe things or to express similarities between the subject and the predicative.

a)
Minä olen ihminen.
I am human.
Tarja Halonen on Suomen presidentti.
Tarja Halonen is the president of Finland.
b) Suomalaiset ovat hiljaisia.
Finns are quiet.
c)
Kengät ovat nahkaa.
The shoes are made of leather.
d) Minä en ole ihminen.
I am not human.

Subject is always in nominative case. The predicative depends, if it's plural or singular. In singular predicative is a) in nominative case, b) in plural in partitive case. NB! Right: Suomalaiset ovat hiljaisia. Wrong: ?Suomalaiset ovat hiljaiset.

Partitive must be used, if the predicative is c) a mass noun. (Usually, something is made of something.)

Negative sentence is formed similar to verb sentence, but the predicative is in same case as in affirmative sentence. The stem of olla is ole.

3. Existential sentence

Existential sentence consists of locative + verb + subject. Existential sentence can be used to express where things are (or are not) or possession.

a)
Pihalla on auto.
There is a car on the yard.
b)
Paidalla on kastiketta.
There is some sauce on the shirt.
c)
Minulla on auto.
I have a car.
d)
Pihalla ei ole autoa.
There's no car on the yard.
Minulla ei ole autoa.
I do not have a car.
Paidalla ei ole kastiketta.
There's no sauce on the shirt.

Locative is always in inessive or adessive case.

Subject is a) in nominative case if it's countable or b) in partitive case, if uncountable or an abstract entity.

You can express a possession by using the existential sentence. The personal pronoun is in adessive case.

In negative sentence d) subject is in partitive case. The stem of olla is ole.

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