ABSTRACT

Finnish: A Comprehensive Grammar presents a fresh, accessible and thorough description of the language, concentrating on the real patterns of use in modern Finnish. The book moves from the sound system through morphology and word classes to a detailed analysis of sentence structures and semantic features.

Key features include: particular focus on examples from spoken Finnish reflecting current usage, grammatic phenomena classified as common or rare, appendices distinguishing base forms from final letter combinations, English-Finnish contrasts highlighted throughout.

This Comprehensive Grammar is an essential reference for the intermediatre and advanced learner and user of Finnish.

chapter Chapter 1|12 pages

Introduction

chapter Chapter 2|20 pages

Pronunciation and sound structure

chapter Chapter 3|16 pages

Word structure

chapter Chapter 4|20 pages

Two important sound alternations

chapter Chapter 5|31 pages

The declension of nominals

chapter Chapter 6|16 pages

The conjugation of verbs

chapter Chapter 8|19 pages

Phrases

chapter Chapter 9|21 pages

Simple clauses

chapter Chapter 10|13 pages

Complex sentences

chapter Chapter 11|7 pages

The nominative case

chapter Chapter 12|21 pages

The partitive case

chapter Chapter 13|18 pages

The genitive case and total objects

chapter Chapter 14|8 pages

Possessive endings

chapter Chapter 15|27 pages

The six local cases

chapter Chapter 16|11 pages

Other cases

chapter Chapter 17|11 pages

Numbers and numerals

chapter Chapter 18|22 pages

Pronouns

chapter Chapter 19|15 pages

Tenses

chapter Chapter 20|14 pages

Moods and modality

chapter Chapter 21|15 pages

Passive constructions

chapter Chapter 22|19 pages

Infinitive-based constructions

chapter Chapter 23|22 pages

Participle-based constructions

chapter Chapter 24|8 pages

Comparison of adjectives

chapter Chapter 25|25 pages

Other word classes and clitics

chapter Chapter 26|26 pages

Word formation

chapter Chapter 27|13 pages

The colloquial spoken language