-nsa

See also: nsa, NSA, and -nsä

Finnish

Pronunciation

Hyphenation: -n·sa (the N is in the last syllable of the actual word, e.g. kir·jan·sa)
IPA^(key): /-nsɑˣ/
Pronounced as written. The first syllables of Finnish words are always stressed, so no emphasis on this. If this is followed by another enclitic particle or a separate word, the first consonant of that word is doubled.

Suffix

-nsa (appended to a word that includes a, o or u or i or e with a, o, u; to the (strong) vowel stem; the final -n of the genitive and illative singular and plural or the -t of the nominative plural is omitted)

(possessive) suffix used with hänen (the genitive of the personal pronoun hän) or heidän (the genitive of the personal pronoun he), corresponds to the English possessive pronouns his, her; their (only of people); in some cases its (see the usage notes below):
- hänen kirjansa: (kirja > + -nsa, not -nsä)
  - his/her book
- heidän kirjansa
  - their book
(possessive) Third person reflexive possessive suffix.
- Kalle luki kirjansa.
  - Kalle read his (own) book.
(possessive) appended to a genitive-requiring postposition that includes back vowels (a, o, u) and that is after hänen (the genitive of the personal pronoun hän) or heidän (the genitive of the personal pronoun he), him, her; them (only of people):
- hänen takanansa = behind him/her (also the shorter form takanaan accepted — see the usage notes below)
- heidän takanansa = behind them (-"- takanaan -"-)
(possessive) used in a participle structure replacing an "että" clause, preceded by a verb expressing e.g. telling, claiming, asserting, confirming, thinking, wish, desire, seeming, when the clauses have the same subject "he", "she" or "they" (only of people); appended to the active present participle in genitive singular (that includes back vowels) when the action is concurrent with the main clause:
- He sanoivat saavansa rahaa. (having back vowels (here As), the verb saada, turned into saavan, requires -nsa)
  - They said that they were receiving money. (similar to the Latin structure accusativus cum infinitivo, e.g. "se dicit facere")
(possessive) used in a participle structure replacing an "että" clause, preceded by a verb expressing e.g. telling, claiming, asserting, confirming, thinking, wish, desire, seeming, when the clauses have the same subject "he", "she" or "they" (only of people); appended to the active past participle in genitive singular (that includes back vowels) when the said/alleged (etc.) action antedates the main clause:
- Hän väitti saaneensa rahaa.
  - She claimed to have received money.
(possessive) used in a shortened sentence expressing concurrent actions when the clauses have the same subject "he", "she" or "they" (only of people), appended to the inessive of the active second infinitive (that includes back vowels).
- Saadessansa rahaa hän kuuli laukauksen ulkoa. (also the shorter form Saadessaan accepted — see the usage notes below)
  - (While) receiving money, he heard a shot from outside.
(possessive) used in a shortened sentence expressing subsequent actions when the clauses have the same subject "he", "she" or "they" (only of people), appended to the partitive of the passive past participle singular (that includes back vowels).
- Saatuansa rahaa hän kuuli laukauksen ulkoa. (also the shorter form Saatuaan accepted — see the usage notes below)
  - (After) having received / After receiving money, she heard a shot from outside.
(possessive) used in a final shortened sentence expressing "in order to do" when the clauses have the same subject "he", "she" or "they" (only of people), appended to the long first infinitive (that includes back vowels).
- Saadaksensa enemmän rahaa he vaihtoivat työpaikkaa. (also the shorter form Saadakseen accepted — see the usage notes below)
  - (In order) to get more money, they changed their job.
(possessive) Used in some adverbs that include back vowels, when the clause has the subject "he", "she" or "they" (only of people).
- Hän oli hyvin pahoillansa siitä. (also the shorter form pahoillaan accepted — see the usage notes below)
  - S/he was very sorry about it.
(possessive) Always appended to a noun in the comitative case (that includes back vowels) when the clause has the subject "he", "she" or "they" (only of people).
- Hän käveli kirjoinensa ovesta ulos. (also the shorter form kirjoineen accepted — see the usage notes below)
  - S/he walked with his/her books out the door.

Usage notes

The possessive suffix -nsa is used in standard Finnish. In standard Finnish, the genitive forms of the corresponding personal pronouns "hän" and "he" before the main word can never be omitted, in order to clarify whether there is one owner or more. In colloquial Finnish, the suffix is very rare and only the genitive forms "hänen" and "heidän" (or their colloquial or dialectal variants) are used before the main word.
When appended to nouns that are in singular and plural inessive, elative, allative, adessive, ablative, translative, essive and abessive, plural partitive and comitative and singular partitive ending with -ta, the S and A are very often omitted from the suffix and the last As or Es of the case suffixes preceding the remaining N are doubled. In standard Finnish, both the "full" form and the shortened form are acceptable (cf. -nsä). This same omission takes very often place also in the nominal verb forms used in shortened sentences (above) and in the adverbs requiring this suffix:

Singular

(iness.) kirjassansa -> kirjassaan

(elat.) kirjastansa -> kirjastaan

(adess.) kirjallansa -> kirjallaan

(allat.) kirjallensa -> kirjalleen

(ablat.) kirjaltansa -> kirjaltaan

(trans.) kirjaksensa -> kirjakseen

(ess.) kirjanansa -> kirjanaan

(abess.) kirjattansa -> kirjattaan

Plural

(partit.) kirjojansa -> kirjojaan

(iness.) kirjoissansa -> kirjoissaan

(elat.) kirjoistansa -> kirjoistaan

(adess.) kirjoillansa -> kirjoillaan

(allat.) kirjoillensa -> kirjoilleen

(ablat.) kirjoiltansa -> kirjoiltaan

(trans.) kirjoiksensa -> kirjoikseen

(ess.) kirjoinansa -> kirjoinaan

(abess.) kirjoittansa -> kirjoittaan

(comit.) kirjoinensa -> kirjoineen

The combination of the personal pronoun genitive hänen or heidän and -nsa can be both the subject and the object of the clause,...:

Hänen kirjansa on pitkäveteinen.
- Her/His book is boring.
Oletko jo lukenut hänen kirjansa? (the genitive-looking accusative object)
- Have you already read her/his book?

...but if the word preceding the main word is any other than "hänen" or "heidän", the suffix -nsa cannot be appended if the main word is the subject of the clause:

Tuolla on lintu. Sen sulat ovat valkoisia. (no suffix appended to the subject sulat because the owner is not hän or he)
- There's a bird there. Its feathers are white.
Lintu sukii sulkiansa. (the suffix appended because sulat is an object)
- The bird is preening its feathers.

The shortened sentences — except for the participial structures — pertain mainly to standard Finnish, not to spoken Finnish. It is also to be noticed that the shortened clauses are never separated from the main clauses with a comma.

Derived terms

(toiset + -nsa) toisensa (each other, one another)

Anagrams

san.

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