1   Introduction

The essive stem is a kind of a combination of the genitive and partitive stem. It always ends in a vowel and takes the strong grade. A good knowledge of consonant gradation and vowel change i ~ e is of great use.

2   Formation

The essive stem is formed with the aid of the genitive and partitive stem. In the inflection examples below, the genitive, partitive, and essive endings have been separated from the stems by a hyphen.

2.1   Word ends in a vowel

a) Words that do not undergo vowel change i ~ e

If a word ends in a vowel and it does not undergo the vowel change i ~ e, the essive stem is similar to the partitive and nominative stem. Thus, the stem always takes the strong grade.

Nominative	Partitive	Essive	Translation
koira	koira-a	koira-na	dog
nalle	nalle-a	nalle-na	teddy bear
kiivi	kiivi-ä	kiivi-nä	kiwi fruit
talo	talo-a	talo-na	house
koulu	koulu-a	koulu-na	school
syy	syy-tä	syy-nä	reason
kylä	kylä-ä	kylä-nä	village
yö	yö-tä	yö-nä	night
silta	silta-a	silta-na	bridge
vihko	vihko-a	vihko-na	notebook

b) Words that undergo vowel change i ~ e

If the partitive stem ends in a vowel, the essive stem is similar to the partitive stem.

Nominative	Partitive	Essive	Translation
tammi	tamme-a	tamme-na	oak
saarni	saarne-a	saarne-na	ash
tähti	tähte-ä	tähte-nä	star
kurki	kurke-a	kurke-na	crane

If the partitive stem ends in a consonant, the essive stem is formed by adding e to the partitive stem.

Nominative	Partitive	Essive	Translation
jouhi	jouh-ta	jouhe-na	horsehair
kieli	kiel-tä	kiele-nä	language
pieni	pien-tä	piene-nä	small
saari	saar-ta	saare-na	island
meri	mer-ta	mere-nä	sea
veri	ver-ta	vere-nä	blood
kuusi	kuus-ta	kuuse-na	spruce
kuusi	kuut-ta	kuute-na	six
kansi	kant-ta	kante-na	lid
jälsi	jält-tä	jälte-nä	cambium
virsi	virt-tä	virte-nä	hymn

If a word ends in -mi, in front of which there is a vowel, the essive stem is similar to the genitive stem.

Nominative	Genitive	Essive	Translation
lumi	lume-n	lume-na	snow
nimi	nime-n	nime-nä	name
suomi	suome-n	suome-na	Finnish

If a word ends in -ksi, the essive stem is similar to the genitive stem, except for that the stem takes the strong grade. This group includes only four words.

Nominative	Genitive	Essive	Translation
yksi	yhde-n	yhte-nä	one
kaksi	kahde-n	kahte-na	two
uksi	ukse-n	ukse-na	door
suksi	sukse-n	sukse-na	ski

If a word ends in -psi or -tsi, the essive stem is similar to the genitive stem. This group includes only four words.

Nominative	Genitive	Essive	Translation
hapsi	hapse-n	hapse-na	hair
lapsi	lapse-n	lapse-na	child
peitsi	peitse-n	peitse-nä	lance
veitsi	veitse-n	veitse-nä	knife

2.2 Word ends in a consonant

If a word ends in a consonant or a relic consonant, the essive stem is similar to the genitive stem, excluding some exceptions discussed later. Thus, the stem always takes the strong grade.

Nominative	Genitive	Essive	Translation
vene	venee-n	venee-nä	boat
karvas	karvaa-n	karvaa-na	bitter
avain	avaime-n	avaime-na	key
askel	askele-n	askele-na	step
tytär	tyttäre-n	tyttäre-nä	daughter
ohut	ohue-n	ohue-na	thin
juossut	juossee-n	juossee-na	run
laulanut	laulanee-n	laulanee-na	sung
syönyt	syönee-n	syönee-nä	eaten
vienyt	vienee-n	vienee-nä	taken

The essive stem of comparative forms is formed by replacing the mma of the genitive stem by mpa. Thus, the essive stem similar to the longer partitive stem. This group also includes the word vasen 'left'.

Nominative	Genitive	Essive	Translation
suurin	suurimma-n	suurimpa-na	the biggest
isoin	isoimma-n	isoimpa-na	the biggest
vasen	vasemma-n	vasempa-na	left

If the nominative stem ends in -s and the genitive stem ends in -de, the essive stem is formed from the nominative stem by replacing the s by te.

Nominative	Genitive	Essive	Translation
osuus	osuude-n	osuute-na	share, part
kauneus	kauneude-n	kauneute-na	beauty
rakkaus	rakkaude-n	rakkaute-na	love
teollisuus	teollisuude-n	teollisuute-na	industry
hyvyys	hyvyyde-n	hyvyyte-nä	goodness

If the nominative stem ends in -s or -t and the genitive stem ends in -nne, the essive stem is formed from the nominative stem by replacing the s or t by nte.

Nominative	Genitive	Essive	Translation
kolmas	kolmanne-n	kolmante-na	the third
neljäs	neljänne-n	neljänte-nä	the fourth
tuhannes	tuhannenne-n	tuhannente-na	the thousandth
mones	monenne-n	monente-na
tuhat	tuhanne-n	tuhante-na	thousand

3   Usage

The essive stem is used to form the essive sg and illative sg. It is also used to form the nominative sg, genitive sg, accusative sg, nominative pl, and accusative pl with a possessive suffix.

The following example shows, how case endings are attached to the essive stem.

Case	Word	Translation
Nominative	kieli	language
Essive	kielenä	as the language
Illative	kieleen	into the language

In the following example, the possessive suffix -ni 'my' has been attached to the essive stem. Because a possessiv suffix can only be added after a vowel, the genitive and accusative singular ending -n, and the nominative and accusative plural ending -t are removed. Thus, all the forms look similar.

Case	Word	Translation
Nominative sg	kieleni	my language
Accusative sg	kieleni	my language
Genitive sg	kieleni	of my language
Nominative pl	kieleni	my languages
Accusative pl	kieleni	my languages