6. What do Finns need cases for?
In Finnish, one word can carry several meanings at the same time:
VARKAAT
thief + plural
KĂVIVĂT
go + past tense + 3rd person plural
ASUNNOSSANI
apartment + inside + mine
Often meanings are added to the end of the word using cases. There are 14 cases in Finnish. Declension in cases is possible for nouns, adjectives and numerals, i. e. words that name or describe things. Case endings cannot be added to verbs.
Among other things, cases can express location or direction of movement:
— Hei, olen jo tÀÀllĂ€ kahvilassa. Tuletko pian?
— Hi, I’m already here in the cafĂ©. Are you coming soon?
— Joo, olen juuri tulossa keskustaan.
— Yes, I’m just coming to the centre.
Cases are also used to mark the role of a word in a clause. Finnish has a relatively free word order, so the case can be the only way to recognise the subject (who is doing something) and object (to whom):
Kalle söi hirven.
Kalle ate the elk.
Hirven söi Kalle.
It was Kalle who ate the elk.Hirvi söi Kallen.
The elk ate Kalle.
Kallen söi hirvi.
It was the elk that ate Kalle.
In addition, cases can express whether a process is finished or whether it’s still going on, and whether something was done completely or partly:
Kalle söi hirven.
Kalle ate the whole elk.
Kalle söi hirveÀ.
Kalle ate some of the elk.