Monday, May 28, 2012

possession

The basic rules for stating possession in Finnish are the same as in Estonian. One uses the ADE case and the verb BE and the item or person that is possessed in the NOM case.

F: Lapsella on kissa.
E: Lapsel on kass.
The child has a cat.

F: Pekkalla on kaksi siskoa.
E: Pekkal on kaks õde.
Pekka has two sisters.

F: Meillä on aikaa.
E: Meil on aega.
We have time.

The questions and negative constructions are also easy to form.

F: Onko sulla aikaa?
E: Kas sul on aega?
Do you have time?

F: Ei, mulla ei ole aikaa.
E: Ei, mul ei ole aega.
No, I don't have any time.

F: Onko hänellä koira?
E: Kas tal on koer?
Does s/he have a dog?

F: Ei, hänellä ei ole koiraa.
E: Ei, tal ei ole koera.
No, s/he doesn't have a dog.

F: Onko sulla rahaa?
E: Kas sul on raha?
Do you have money?

F: Ei, mulla ei ole rahaa.
E: Ei, mul pole raha.
No, I don't have any money.

Remember that when the statement is negative we use the partitive case regardless of whether a full object appeared in the question. Thus we say:

Mulla ei ole koiraa/ Mul pole koera NOT koira/ koer.

Notice that in Estonian you have the choice of using ei ole or pole which is a contraction of ep + ole. Ep was an archaic variant of ei that is no long in use.

Those are the similarities but there is also the following difference. In Finnish, when both possessor and possessee are concrete and inanimate we make use of the INE case in place of the ADE above. This distinction does not exist in Estonian and we stay with the use of the ADE case.

F: Tässä ruuassa ei ole makua.
E: Sel toidul ei ole maitset.
This food has no taste.

F: Tässä pöydässä on vain kolme jalkaa.
E: Sel laual on ainult kolm jalga.
This table has only three legs.

In Estonian the correct form is selle as in sellel nädalal 'this week' (tällä viikolla in Finnish) but it's common to say sel.

Compare:

Tässä pöydässä on vain kolme jalkaa. (INE case)
This table has only three legs.

Pojalla on kiva nimi. (ADE case)
The boy has a nice name.

In Estonian these are both handled by the ADE.

Sellel laual on ainult kolm jalga.
Poisil on kena nimi.

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