Two important sound alternations
Fred Karlsson · 2015
This chapter talks about formation of the genitive, use of the genitive, the total object, possessive endings and quantity adverbs taking an object case. The genitive singular ending is -n, which is added to the inflectional stem. As the genitive ending consists of only one consonant, it causes consonant gradation. The genitive plural is the most complex of the Finnish case forms. It is usually worth comparing the formation of the genitive plural with that of the partitive plural. The genitive is the case of the subject with some verbs of necessity or obligation, and some verbs with a modal meaning. The total object cases are, for personal pronouns, accusative, for all other nominals either nominative or genitive singular -n. The partitive object occurs in three instances: in negative sentences, when the action expressed by the verb is irresultative, and when the object expresses an indefinite quantity.