Finnish Possessive Suffixes: Alive and Well

First, you learn that the possessive suffixes can be used together with the six personal pronouns: minun, sinun, hänen, meidän, teidän, heidän. Then you learn that the suffixes are not necessary. Some textbooks even say that these suffixes are not used in spoken language. That is not exactly true.

What they mean is that possessive suffixes are usually not used in spoken language to express straightforward possession — the kind of possession expressed in English by my, your, his, her, our and their.

What I mean is that the possessive suffixes are used in literature, newspapers and also spoken Finnish — and not at all rarely, but absolutely all the time. Hänen vaimonsa (His/Her wife) is the form one would use in a novel, even in a novel written in easy Finnish (selkokieli). Hänen vaimonsa työskentelee sairaalassa (His/Her wife works in a hospital) sounds completely natural in written Finnish. Yet no one would say it like that in spoken language. But possessive suffixes are used in spoken language, too!

What Are Finnish Possessive Suffixes?

Possessive suffixes are endings that, if simplified, mean the same as the words my, your, his/her, our and their. They can be used together with the pronouns minun, sinun, hänen, meidän, teidän and heidän, or the pronouns or the possessive suffixes can be left out.

minun +ni kissani

sinun +si kissasi

hänen and heidän +nsa, after other endings either nsa or double the last vowel and N.

kissansa, but kissallansa OR kissallaan

meidän +mme kissamme

teidän +nne kissanne

The possessive suffixes are rare in spoken language when they express clear possession. One would say minun kissa (“my cat”), sinun kissa (“your cat”) and meidän kissa (“our cat”). However, there are many phrases where possessive suffixes are always used, even in spoken Finnish.

When Are Finnish Possessive Suffixes Always Used?

The Finnish possessive suffixes are at their strongest precisely when they do not express direct ownership. There are expressions where the possessive suffix remains extremely common, both in written and in spoken Finnish. These are contexts where the possessive suffix is attached to postpositions: Äitinsä kanssa! (with his/her mother) or Siinä edessäsi (There, in front of you). These are very common sentences — and the possessive suffix does not really express exact ownership.

There are expressions where possessive suffixes are obligatory. For example, it is impossible to say olen pahoillani without the suffix -ni. The suffix is also obligatory when using the words “to each other” and “one’s self”: Me tavattiin toisemme jo aiemmin (We met each other already earlier) and Osta se itsellesi (Buy it for yourself) — both require the possessive suffix, also in spoken language. The same goes for expressions like muistaakseni (“if I remember correctly”) En ollut huomaavinani ( “I pretended not to notice”)— never used without the possessive suffix.

Many native Finnish speakers claim that the possessive suffixes are rare and formal. Many Finns actually think they don’t use possessive suffixes in their daily conversations. They are surprised to discover that they use them every day without even thinking about it.

Possessive Suffixes in Finnish Poetry and Song Lyrics

In my opinion, the great thing about human languages is that you can use them creatively for your own purposes. Possessive suffixes are especially common in poetry and song lyrics. Haloo Helsinki sings:

Kuka sä oot ja mitä teet mun edessäni…

Here, sä and mun are strongly colloquial forms, yet edessäni carries the perfectly traditional possessive suffix -ni. Colloquial and literary elements happily coexist.

In Eino Leino’s beautiful expressionist poem about the mystical Finnish Summer Night, possessive suffixes give a rhythm, and a very Finnish spice to the sentences:

Ruislinnun laulu korvissani, tähkäpäiden päällä täysi kuu.

Kesäyön on onni omanani. Kaskisavuun laakso verhoutuu.

So, Are Finnish Possessive Suffixes Rare?

Not really. And if you enjoy reading Finnish novels, newspapers or even Easy Finnish texts, you will meet them again and again.