Sorry for all the language posts but the language sub has shut down 😢
I’m really confused and Duolingo isn’t explaining it to me haha.
I’ve learned some partitive and 5 ‘cases’ so far.
But I can’t figure out why ‘big dog’ is in partitive (or has an A on the end – which has so far meant partitive). It’s obviously not a portion of dog being looked for… I hope!
Google isn’t helping so could someone please explain it (in a way someone who sucked at learning grammar in their native language will understand please!).
by mstn148
5 comments
Short answer:
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Verb “etsiä” (to seek, to look for, to search) needs it’s object to be in partive case.
r/Learn_Finnish is the new language learning sub.
The action of searching for a big dog is *atelic* which means that it is an ongoing process without a well-defined endpoint. Partitive is used in such cases.
You might notice that in some cases the words end in n instead of a, which changes the meaning.
*Etsin isoa koiraa ~ I am searching for a big dog*
*Etsin ison koiran ~ I will search for a big dog (until I find one)*
open duolingo at web page at computer and there are language lessong and grammar explained.
its not visible in app version
There are just some [verbs](https://uusikielemme.fi/finnish-grammar/syntax/rections/partitive-verbs-partitiiviverbit-list) that are automatically followed by a partitive object. You just need to memorize them.