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A1 Finnish GrammarPlural Nouns

Form plurals in Finnish using the plural marker -t for nominative and -i- for other cases. Finnish plural formation involves consonant gradation and stem changes. Learn the most common patterns for everyday nouns.

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1Nominative Plural with -t

The nominative plural in Finnish is formed by adding -t to the noun stem. This is used when the noun is the subject of a sentence. The stem may undergo consonant gradation (weakening), so 'koira' becomes 'koirat' but 'kirkko' becomes 'kirkot'.

Nominative Plural Formation

Singular	Plural	English
talo	talot	house → houses
koira	koirat	dog → dogs
auto	autot	car → cars
lapsi	lapset	child → children

Examples

Talot ovat suuria.

The houses are big.

talo + -t = talot (subject)

Koirat juoksevat puistossa.

The dogs run in the park.

koira + -t = koirat

Autot ovat kalliita.

The cars are expensive.

auto + -t = autot

Lapset leikkivät ulkona.

The children play outside.

lapsi → lapset (stem change)

2Plural Stem with -i-

For cases other than nominative, Finnish uses a plural stem formed with -i-. This -i- is inserted before the case ending. The singular stem often changes when -i- is added. For example, 'talo' (house) has plural stem 'taloi-' for cases like partitive 'taloja'.

Plural Stems

Singular	Sing. Partitive	Plural Stem	Plural Partitive
talo	taloa	taloi-	taloja
kirja	kirjaa	kirjoi-	kirjoja
pöytä	pöytää	pöydi-	pöytiä
maa	maata	mai-	maita

Examples

Näen monta taloa.

I see many houses.

taloja = plural partitive

Luen kirjoja.

I read books.

kirja → kirjoja

Pöydillä on ruokaa.

There is food on the tables.

pöytä → pöydillä (adessive plural)

Olen käynyt monissa maissa.

I have visited many countries.

maa → maissa (inessive plural)

3Common Plural Patterns

Some nouns have predictable plural patterns. Words ending in -a/-ä often change to -oi-/-öi-. Words ending in a long vowel shorten before -i-. Words ending in -i often change to -ei- in plural. Learning these patterns helps predict plurals.

Plural Pattern Examples

Ending	Singular	Plural Stem	Pattern
-a	koira	koiri-	-a → -oi-
-ä	pää	päi-	long vowel shortens
-i	suomi	suome-	-i → -e- in plural
-o	radio	radioi-	-o → -oi-

Examples

Koirilla on nälkä.

The dogs are hungry.

koira → koirilla (adessive)

Pese kätesi!

Wash your hands!

käsi → kädet (nominative pl.)

Puhumme suomea.

We speak Finnish.

suomi singular partitive

Radioissa soitetaan musiikkia.

Music is played on the radios.

radio → radioissa

4Irregular and Special Plurals

Some common nouns have irregular plurals that must be memorized. 'Mies' (man) becomes 'miehet', 'nainen' (woman) becomes 'naiset'. Words ending in -nen change to -set or -sia. These high-frequency words are worth memorizing individually.