Attached attributes

Genitive (Finnish: genetiivi) is the main way to tell about attributes in the Finnish language. It tells to whom or what something belongs to or what kind of qualities something has. Finnish has no corresponding structure to the English of so when talking about attributes, such information will typically be set into the form of genitive together with another noun case.

E.g.

Helsingin yliopisto - The University of Helsinki
Suomen suurlähetystö - The Embassy of Finland

Many location descriptions with adverbs are joined with a genitive as an attribute to the corresponding noun. The adverbs can have both internal or external locative cases, in some older expressions essive and translative are possible to be seen too (e.g. takana).

E.g.

Puiston edessä sijaitsee monia historiallisesti merkittäviä rakennuksia. - In front of the park there are located many historically significant buildings.
Koira makoilee pöydän alla odottaen, jos jotain ruokaa putoaisi. - The dog is lying under the table waiting if some food would fall.

When using genitive personal pronouns, in official text language (kirjakieli) the genitive referred noun receives a possessive suffix. The possessive suffix is a noun suffix that also tells to whom something belongs to:

Minun noun + -ni
Sinun noun + -si
Hänen noun + -nsa/-nsä (nominative, partitive, accusative and genitive) or Hänen noun + -aan/-ään (typically used with longer cases that have consonant clusters)
Meidän noun + -mme
Teidän noun + -nne
Heidän noun + -nsa/-nsä (nominative, partitive, accusative and genitive) or Heidän noun + -aan/-ään (typically used with longer cases that have consonant clusters)

E.g.

Minun lomamatkani oli onnistunut. - My holiday trip was successful.
Hänen polkupyöränsä on pyöräparkissa. - His bicycle is in the bicycle park.
Hänen autossaan on uudet vanteet. - There are new rims in his car.

Genitive singular and plural have the following endings to them. Let’s see them also in fitting example categories.

Singular
-n

Plural
-ien/-ten
-jen
-iden

When talking about to whom or what something belongs to

In singular genitive

Tämä on Pekan kitara. - This is Pekka’s guitar.
Miehen lierihattu on hieno. - The man’s brimmed hat in fancy.
Lauran syntymäpäivä on ensi perjantaina. - Laura’s birthday is next Friday.
Nykyinen Tampereen yliopisto on perustettu vuonna 2019. - The current Tampere University has been founded in 2019.

In plural genitive

Naisten ja miesten sovituskopit sijaitsevat vaatekaupan nurkassa. - The women’s and men’s fitting rooms are located in the corner of the clothing store.
Ikäihmisten palvelut on turvattava myös tulevaisuudessa. - The services of elderly people have to ensured in the future as well.

When talking about a location description with an adverb

The genitive case is a common way in Finnish to also attach locations and other adverbs to nouns and names. The Finnish language is consistent in highlighting the direction of movement or action so typically adverbs have three main categories which I like to divide them into: the being adverbs (with inessive, adessive and essive), the going adverbs (with illative and allative) and the leaving adverbs (with elative, ablative and partitive). Let’s break these down into separate sections below.

Genitive singular with the being adverbs (yksikön genetiivi ja olosija):

Gen. + edessä - In front of
Ruokakaupan edessä on iso parkkipaikka. - There is a big parking lot in front of the grocery store.
Taidegallerian edessä on kaunis puutarha. - There is a beautiful garden in front of the art gallery.
Minun edessäni on paljon ihmisiä. - There are a lot of people in front of me.

Gen. + takana - Behind
Poika leikkii pensasaidan takana. - A boy is playing behind the hedge.
Tämän hyllyn takana on lisää urheilutarvikkeita. - There is more sports gear behind this shelf.
Hänen takanaan on uimahalli. - There is a public swimming pool behind him.

Gen. + sivussa - On/by the side of
Auton sivussa on tilaa esimerkiksi juomapullolle. - There is space for example for a drinking bottle on the side of the car.
Repun sivussa on tasku kirjoitustarvikkeille. - There is a pocket for writing utensils on the side of the backpack.

Gen. + vieressä - Next to
Sinun vieressäsi on tilaa muille. - There’s space for others next to you.
Talon vieressä on pelto, jossa kasvaa ruista. - There’s a field where rye grows next to the house.
Tyttö istuu sohvalla, joka on olohuoneen hyllyn vieressä. - A girl is sitting on a sofa that is next to the living room shelf.

Gen. + vasemmalla puolella - On the left side of
Pankin vasemmalla puolella on myös muita palveluita. - On the left side of the bank there are also other services.
Naulakon vasemmalla puolella on info-tiski, josta voit tarvittaessa kysyä apua. - On the left side of the coat rack there’s an info desk from which you can ask for help if you need.

Gen. + oikealla puolella - On the right side of
Laiturin oikealla puolella on monia purjeveneitä, jotka ovat saapuneet kaukaa. - On the right side of the water dock there are many sail boats which have come from far away.
Minun ystäväni odottaa taidegallerian oikealla puolella. - My friend is waiting on the right side of the art gallery.

Genitive singular with the going adverbs (yksikön genetiivi ja tulosija):

Gen. + eteen - (Someone/something) going in front of
Hän käveli minun eteeni. - He/she walked into me. (He/she walked in front of me by blocking my path.)
Voitko laittaa onnittelukortin kukan eteen? - Can you set the greeting card in front of the flower?

Gen. + taakse - (Someone/something) going behind
Peura juoksi nopeasti puun taakse. - A deer quickly ran behind the tree.
Voisitko laittaa paperit laatikon taakse? - Could you put the papers behind the box?

Gen. + sivuun - (Someone/something) going to the side of
Auto ajoi tien sivuun. - The car drove to the side of the road.
Talon sivuun rakennettiin uusi osa. - A new part was built to the side of the house.

Gen. + viereen - (Someone/something) going next to
Voitko istua minun viereeni? - Can you sit next to me?
Voitko mennä hänen viereensä? Otan teistä valokuvan. - Can you go next to him/her. I'll take a photo of you.

Gen. + vasemmalle puolelle - (Someone/something) going to the left side of
Taksi saapuu pian tämän tien vasemmalle puolelle. - A taxi will soon arrive on the left side of this road.
Aseta pankkikortti lukijan vasemmalle puolelle. Siinä on lähimaksu. - Set the bankcard on the left side of the reader. There's the contactless payment.

Gen. + oikealle puolelle - (Someone/something) going to the right side of
Leivonnaiset ovat siirtyneet tämän hyllyn oikealle puolelle. - The pastries have moved to the right side of this shelf.
Me istutamme lisää ruusuja pensaan oikealle puolelle. - We are planting more roses to the right side of the bush.

Genitive singular with the leaving adverbs (yksikön genetiivi ja erosija):

Gen. + edestä - (Someone/something) leaving in front of
Maratoni lähtee puiston edestä. - The marathon starts in front of the park. (lit. “the marathon leaves”)
Hänen edestään poistui paljon ongelmia. - A lot of problems moved away in front of him.

Gen. + takaa - (Someone/something) leaving behind
Hae polttopuita mökin takaa. - Go get firewood from behind the cottage.
Aurinko ilmestyi pilven takaa. - The sun appeared from behind the cloud.

Gen. + sivusta - (Someone/something) leaving the side of
Voit ottaa kartan repun sivusta. - You can take the map from the side of the backpack.
Hotellihuoneen sivusta löytyy kylpyamme. - A bathtub can be found from the side of the hotelroom.

Gen. + vierestä - (Someone/something) leaving next to
Ota lautanen ja lusikka kakun vierestä. - Take a plate and a spoon that are next to the cake. (“from the area next to the cake”)
Mies nousi minun vierestäni. - The man who was next to me stood up. (“the man stood up from (the seat) next to me”)

Gen. + vasemmalta puolelta - (Someone/something) leaving the left side of
Moottoripyörä ohitti auton vasemmalta puolelta. - A motorcycle passed the car from the left side.
Ota pyyhe kaapin vasemmalta puolelta. - Take a towel from the left side of the cabinet.

Gen. + oikealta puolelta - (Someone/something) leaving the right side of
Kävelin eilen oopperatalon oikealta puolelta rantaan. - Yesterday I walked from the right side of the opera house to the shore.
Terveyskeskuksen oikealta puolelta pääsee sisään. - One can get inside from the right side of the healthcare center.

Genitive plural with miscellaneous adverbs

Myyntikojujen edessä seisoo paljon ihmisiä. - There are a lot of people standing in front of the sales booths.
Laulajien edessä tanssii suuri yleisö. - A large audience is dancing in front of the singers.
Puiden takana näkyy perinteistä suomalaista peltomaisemaa. - A traditional Finnish field view can be seen behind the trees.
Näiden autojen vieressä on ostoskatu. - A shopping street is located next to these cars.

Necessive structures

With necessive structures the most commonly used verbs and expressions are:

Singular genitive and necessive expression

Gen. + pitää - (Someone/something) has to/must
Minun pitää harjoitella tätä lisää. - I have to practice this more.
Ellan pitää varata hotelli Espanjasta. - Ella has to reserve a hotel in Spain.

Gen. + täytyy - (Someone/something) has to/must
Jaakon täytyy tehdä lisää ruokaa illalle. - Jaakko must make more food for the evening.
Hänen täytyy liikkua enemmän. - He/she must exercise more.

Gen. + on pakko - (Someone/something) has to/must (strongest expression, something is compulsory)
Sinun on pakko aloittaa opinnäytetyö. - You have to start the thesis.

Plural genitive and necessive expression

Gen. + pitää - (Some people/some things) have to/must
Suomalaisten pitää korjata talouttaan. - Finns must correct their economy.
Virtasten pitää mennä siivoamaan mökki lauantaina. - The family Virtanen must go clean up the cottage on Saturday.

Gen. + täytyy - (Some people/some things) have to/must
Kukkien täytyy antaa kasvaa kosteassa maaperässä. - The flowers must be given a moist soil to grow in.
Pyykkien täytyy kuivua kauemmin. - The laundry must dry for longer.

Gen. + on pakko - (Some people/some things) have to/must (strongest expression, something is compulsory)
Suomalaisten on pakko maksaa veroja. - Finns have to pay taxes. (It is compulsory for Finns to pay taxes.)

The action, completed

The main function of the accusative case in the Finnish language is to mark a total object. It describes the completion of an action.

Accusative is a noun case historically formed by many elements. To begin, it includes the form that derived from genitive, the most common accusative type, with the ending -n. This form of accusative is used for most active sentences with a total object. The -n ending accusative expresses in an active sentence that a subject is doing a finished action to an object. This ending is used specifically for nouns.

The -t ending singular accusative was formed the latest. It was formed to the Finnish language to differentiate the common use of genitive form with personal pronouns.

The last group in the singular accusative forms is the endingless form or the nominative singular looking form. It is used specifically for imperative, passive and necessive structures with nouns.

Plural forms follow the same look of the nominative. The plural demonstrative pronouns get the same nämä, nuo and ne in accusative but otherwise the nominative -t plural ending is used.

Singular
-n, in active sentences with nouns: subject to object
-t, for personal pronouns
(-), in imperative, passive and necessive structures with nouns

Plural
-t (or a nominative looking form)

Let’s have a look at sentences that use singular accusative first and then move on to the plural counterparts.

Accusative singular in sentences

-n, in active sentences with nouns: subject to object

In present tense (Finnish preesens)

Minä ostan tämän mielenkiintoisen kirjan huomenna. - I will buy this interesting book tomorrow.
Minä katson tämän suosittelemasi elokuvan pian. - I will watch this movie recommended by you soon.
Hän työntää oven kiinni. - He pushes the door shut.
Anna ostaa uuden takin. - Anna buys a new jacket.

In past simple (Finnish imperfekti)

Minä pesin auton aamulla. - I washed the car in the morning.
Minä kirjoitin tämän kortin sinulle. - I wrote this card for you.
Sinä otit avaimen eilen, mihin laitoit sen? - You took the key yesterday, where did you put it?
Hän laittoi mukin takaisin pöydälle. - He/she set the mug back on the table.

As we see in the examples of the Finnish time form preesens (present tense), it often translates to the future tense in English. This is for the reason that we refer to the moment the action will be finished with the accusative case.

The Finnish time form imperfekti (past simple) with accusative expresses the moment when the action was finished.

-t, for personal pronouns

In present tense (Finnish preesens)

Sinä tarvitset minut sinun projektiisi. - You need me in your project.
Minä näen sinut mäen päällä. - I see you on top of the hill.
Minä kuulen hänet käytävän toisesta päästä. - I hear him/her from the other end of the hallway.
Valitsen hänet minun joukkueeseeni. - I choose him/her on my team.
Hääpari kutsuu meidät häihinsä. - The couple to be married invites us to their wedding.

In past simple (Finnish imperfekti)

Minä tapasin hänet viime viikolla. - I met him/her last week.
Minä näin heidät eilen kauppakeskuksessa. - I saw them at the shopping mall yesterday. (Compare to partitive: Näin heitä eilen. - I was seeing them/hanging out with them yesterday.)

(-), in imperative, passive and necessive structures with nouns

Imperative

The Finnish imperative is most commonly used in the present tense (Finnish preesens). Also historically the present perfect form has been used but today you can mostly hear it in the aforementioned context. As the imperative form doesn’t have an indicated subject in the sentence, the accusative form takes the nominative-like look to it:

Hanki itsellesi uusi polkupyörä! - Get yourself a new bicycle!
Syö aamupala! Muuten sinulla on nälkä päivällä. - Eat the breakfast! Otherwise you will be hungry during the day.
Muista ottaa avain ennen kuin lähdet töihin! - Remember to take the key before you leave for work!

Passive

In present tense (Finnish preesens)

Nintendon Switch 2 -pelikonsoli julkaistaan pian ennakkotilauksia varten. - The Switch 2 game console by Nintendo will be released soon for pre-orders.
Uusi ravintola avataan tänään Helsingin Töölöön. - The new restaurant will be opened to Töölö, Helsinki today.

In past simple (Finnish imperfekti)

The Beatlesin albumi Hey Jude julkaistiin vuonna 1970. - The album Hey Jude by The Beatles was published in the year 1970.
Ateria valmistettiin juuri hetki sitten. - The meal was prepared just a moment ago.
Auto korjattiin korjaamossa. - The car was repaired at the repair shop.

Necessive expressions

Pitää, täytyä, olla pakko, jonkun on tehtävä

In present tense (Finnish preesens)

Meidän pitää ostaa uusi jääkaappi. - We need to buy a new fridge.
Jaakon ja Elinan täytyy ostaa uusi auto. - Jaakko and Elina need to buy a new car.
Kaisan on pakko aloittaa pääsykokeeseen harjoittelu tällä viikolla. - Kaisa must start practicing for the entrance exam this week.
Sinun on siivottava huoneesi! - You must clean up your room!

Past simple (Finnish imperfekti)

Hänen piti tehdä haastava pääsykoe, jotta hän pääsi yliopistoon. - He/she needed to make a challenging entrance exam in order for him/her to get to the university.
Yrityksen täytyi ostaa uusi toimitila, sillä vanha ei ollut riittävän suuri yrityksen kasvaviin tarpeisiin. - The company needed to buy a new business space because the old one wasn't big enough for the company's growing needs.
Yrityksen oli pakko lomauttaa koko ulkomaisten myyntien osasto. - The company had to lay off the whole department of foreign sales.
Yrityksen oli mietittävä uusi strategia. - The company had to think of a new strategy.

Accusative plural in sentences

The accusative plural for nouns always receives the -t ending or another nominative looking plural form (e.g. nämä, nuo, ne). This includes the plural in imperative, passive and necessive sentences. Plural personal pronouns also get their regular -t ending.

In present tense (Finnish preesens)

Mikko laittaa pyykit kuivumaan. - Mikko sets the laundry to dry.
Maija ottaa matkalle hienot kesävaatteet. - Maija takes nice summer clothes for the trip.
Minun pitää pestä tiskit ennen kuin menen nukkumaan. - I need to do the dishes before I go to sleep.
Muista pestä pyykit, kun tulet takaisin töistä! - Remember to wash the laundry when you arrive back from work!

In past simple (Finnish imperfekti)

Suutari kunnosti kengät uuden veroisiksi. - The shokemaker repaired the shoes to as good as new.
Rakentaja asensi kylpyhuoneeseen uudet laatat. - The builder installed new tiles in the bathroom.

The endings to partitive nouns

Partitive singular

-a/-ä with nouns ending with a singular vowel
(excluding some old nouns ending with -i and all ending with -e)

-ta/-tä with nouns ending with double vowels,
most consonant ending nouns but only -s ending nouns with a singular vowel before it (e.g. mainos → mainosta) and some old nouns ending with -i (e.g. meri → merta)

-tta/-ttä with nouns ending with -e, old nouns ending with -si (e.g. vesi → vettä) and -s ending old nouns with double vowels before it (hiljaisuus → hiljaisuutta)

Partitive plural

-ia/-iä most commonly with nouns having two syllables or less, most consonant ending nouns but only certain -s ending nouns (e.g. ajatus → ajatuksia), certain -a ending nouns (e.g. koira → koiria) and old nouns ending with -i (e.g. tuuli → tuulia)

-ja/-jä most commonly with nouns having two syllables or less, nouns ending with -o,
-u, -y, certain -a ending nouns (e.g. kissa → kissoja), -tti ending nouns (e.g. termostaatti → termostaatteja) and typically shorter loaned nouns ending with -i (e.g. kumi → kumeja)

-ita/-itä most commonly with nouns having three or more syllables, -e ending nouns, nouns ending with double vowels, certain nouns ending with -s (e.g. kallis → kalliita) and typically longer loaned nouns ending with -i (e.g. lääkäri → lääkäreitä)

All options in singular and plural partitive conjugate depending on vowel harmony.
Old nouns refer to words that are mostly of Finnic origin.

Multipurpose noun case

Partitive is one the most commonly used noun cases in the Finnish language. Partitive is a characteristic that is typical to the Finnic languages which expresses, as the name suggests, partialness. A partitive noun can take the place of a subject or object but more commonly it gets used in the latter.

The partitive noun case describes functions that in other languages typically get divided into multiple different parts in syntax. It can describe not only uncountability but also continuity or incompleteness in action. Because the partitive noun case can describe uncountability, it can also correspond to situations where in English some or any would be used.

Let’s look at different areas in Finnish where the partitive noun case is used:

1. Incomplete or ongoing actions
   
   Minä luen kirjaa. - I’m reading (some of) the book.

   Hän valmistaa ruokaa. - He/she is preparing (some) food.
   
   Here in these examples we can see that the continuous verb in English indicates a similar concept that partial object in partitive form tells in Finnish.
   
   

2. Indefinite or generally stated quantities

   
   Minä juon vettä. - I’m drinking (some) water.

   Hän syö keittoa. - He/she is eating (some) soup.
   Onko sinulla mitään hyvää sarjakuvakirjaa? - Do you have any good comic book?

   Helsingissä esiintyi kesällä monia artisteja. - Many artists performed in Helsinki in the summer.

   
   The partitive case can inform about indefinite quantities. English can often get the word some in these sentences and uses the articleless form of the noun. Also the generally stated quantities can refer to the word any, which divides into different word possibilities depending on the context in Finnish. Some of the most common words for any in Finnish are: mitään/ketään and yhtään.
   
   

3. The noun being a part of something

   
   Tässä on sinulle pala sitruunakakkua. - Here’s a piece of lemon cake for you.
   Tämä on osa kokonaisuutta. - This is a part of the entirety.

   
   In this context of partialness we can note that in English the of structure would correspond to the use of partitive.
   
   

4. With many feeling related expressions and other expressions related to indefinite quality

   
   

   Mies tunsi iloa ja surua samanaikaisesti. - The man felt joy and sorrow simultaneously.
   Minä rakastan kirjallisuutta. - I love literature.

   Hän etsii uusia mahdollisuuksia työmarkkinoilla. - He/she is looking for new opportunities in the job market.
   
   Expressions that tell about feelings or actions that are immeasurable in quality get a partitive.
   
   

5. Negative sentences relating to an object
   
   Me emme katsoneet vielä elokuvaa. - We didn’t watch the movie yet.
   Sinä et lukenut ohjekirjaa. - You didn’t read the instruction booklet.
   
   Negative sentences when something isn’t done to an object also get a partitive. This is also somewhat comparable to not any in English.
   
   

6. Numbers
   
   Mikolla on viisi hyvää ystävää. - Mikko has five good friends.

   Juhlia varten tehtiin kolme kakkua. - Three cakes were made for the celebration.

   
   Nouns after numbers other than yksi receive a singular partitive to tell about the type that the amount signifies.
   
   

7. Nouns related to actions where the object returns back to initial state
   
   Paina nappia. - Press the button.

   Työnnä ovea. - Push the door.
   
   These expressions tell how some object is being altered but after the action, the object returns back to its original state.
   
   

The endings to nominative nouns

The nominative noun case (Fin. nominatiivi) for singular doesn’t get any addition compared to the form written in Finnish dictionaries. The plural form of nominative gets an added -t and some words go under changes in the stem.

Nominative singular
(-)

Nominative plural
-t

The typical usage of nominative

The nominative noun case is one of first building blocks when starting out with the Finnish language. The nominative noun case is often used to set the subject in a sentence when the subject is a countable entity (for example a person, a thing, a profession etc). When a subject is placed in nominative, it can be described with a predicate that typically starts with a form of the verb olla. The describing predicate of the nominative subject often takes a nominative form as well (when describing the whole countable entity). When some uncountable quality of the nominative subject is described, a predicate in partitive case form is possible too.

Let’s have a look at some of these nominative subjects in sentences and how they can be described. First let’s describe some nominative subjects with a nominative adjective:

• Kissa on mustavalkoinen. - The cat is black and white. (The black and white cat)

• Auto on sininen. - The car is blue. (The blue car)

• Tämä takki on hieno. - This jacket is fine/fancy. (This fine/fancy jacket)

Depending on context and meaning, some nominative subjects can be described with a partitive adjective, let’s have a look at these:

• Tämä kahvi on hyvää. - This coffee is good. (Uncountable taste of the coffee, notice how the adjective doesn’t get an article in English)

• Ruoka on herkullista. - The food is delicious. (Uncountable taste of the food, also no article with the English adjective here)

• Klassinen musiikki on rauhoittavaa. - Classical music is soothing. (Uncountable soothing quality of classical music, also no article with the English adjective here)

As the nominative case is commonly used for the subject of a sentence, it typically is the doer to an object when it’s present. Here are a couple of examples:

• Kokki tekee tänään karjalanpaistia. - The chef will make Karelian stew today.

• Kaisa aikoo kirjoittaa kirjan. - Kaisa plans to write a book.

Some more examples of nominative subjects in different contexts

• Poika on ahkera. - The boy is diligent. (Subject and predicate describing it)

• Matti on poliisi. - Matti is a police officer. (Subject and predicate describing it)

• Turun telakka rakentaa isoja laivoja. - The Turku shipyard builds big ships. (Subject, predicate and object)

• Nuo linnut lentävät etelään talveksi. - Those birds fly south for the winter. (Subject, predicate and adverbials)

• Tässä on hyvä ystäväni. - Here is my good friend. (Adverb, predicate and subject with a possessive suffix)

A grammatical structure that also many native Finnish speakers occasionally struggle with is knowing the difference between the passive structure in present perfect and past perfect tenses compared to the active sentence counterparts. A passive structure in these tenses informs the reader that something has/had been done by an unknown agent. Because of this nature, in Finnish, the passive form doesn’t refer to the singularity or plurality of the object(s) but rather the anonymity and the manner of the performed action.

Let’s have some of these examples in passive form:

1. Nämä huonekalut on valmistettu kestämään aikaa. - These pieces of furniture have been made to withstand time.

2. Nämä seinät on juuri maalattu. - These walls have just been painted.

3. Kakku oli syöty jo eilen. - The cake had already been eaten yesterday.

Notice how regardless of the beginnings being in a singular or plural form, the sentences get the forms of on/oli tehty. Nämä huonekalut, nämä seinät and kakku act as objects because something has or had been done to them. The doer in these examples is unknown. The sentences get the Finnish passive past participle, the so called TU-partisiippi. As passive sentences in Finnish don’t have a subject in relationship to the mentioned object, all passive present perfects and past perfects get the form of on/oli + -tu/-ty/-ttu/-tty. In other words, only a subject can form congruence with the verb form in Finnish (singular vs plural verb form).

Let’s now make some active sentences with the same nouns and compare the differences:

1. Nämä huonekalut ovat puusta valmistettuja. - These pieces of furniture are made from wood.

2. Talon asukkaat ovat ihastelleet juuri maalattuja seiniä. - The residents of the house have been admiring the freshly painted walls.

3. He olivat syöneet kakun jo eilen. - They had already eaten the cake yesterday.

In the first active sentence nämä huonekalut now is a plural subject and is followed by the present third plural verb form ovat. The ending now is a predicate puusta valmistettuja, which gets a plural partitive case form valmistettuja to describe the plural subject nämä huonekalut in the active sentence. The plural partitive ending of the predicate in this context describes the uncountable quality of the subject: (wood in) pieces of furniture.

In the second active sentence talon asukkaat works now as a plural subject and gets accompanied by the present perfect third plural verb form ovat ihastelleet. Notice how now the present perfect gets ovat + -eet ending for plural. The ending object maalattuja seiniä gets a plural partitive form because the painted walls are now under the still ongoing and incomplete action by the described subject: residents of the house.

The third active sentence introduces the subject he. The following verb form is in third plural past perfect tense. As there is the subject he included, in this example it performs a complete action toward the mentioned object (cake) and therefore the object is set in accusative case kakun.

Wrapping up, the main area to focus on in these types of sentences is the role a subject brings to a Finnish sentence. A subject brings the aspect of singular vs plural verb form and can bring forward the relationship of subject to object. This relationship can bring some extra depth on what is described with the chosen noun cases.

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Sources used as aid in writing this article and more on this topic:

Uusikielemme.fi: The Passive Past Participle – TU-partisiippi
Finnlectura.fi: Partisiipit
Kielikello.fi: Mitä vikaa on ilmauksessa ”ovat valittu”?