Relative Clauses in Finnish

In Brief

Finnish normally begins a relative clause with a case form of joka (“who,” “which,” or “that”). The form agrees with its antecedent in number, but its case depends on its job inside the relative clause: mies, joka asuu (“the man who lives”), but mies, jonka tunnen (“the man whom I know”). Finnish normally places a comma before the relative clause.

Overview

A relative clause is a part of a sentence that identifies or describes a person, thing, or place: “the colleague who called” or “the café where we met.” The word being described is the antecedent. In kirja, jonka luin (“the book that I read”), kirja is the antecedent and jonka luin is the relative clause.

At B1, the central task is to stop looking for separate Finnish words corresponding to English who, which, that, whose, and where. Finnish usually uses one pronoun, joka, and declines it. Declension means changing the ending to show the word’s role. The correct form is determined from the relative clause itself, not from the case of the antecedent in the main clause.

This system is compact but important. It lets you combine short statements, avoid repetition, and give precise information about people and things. It also builds directly on your knowledge of Finnish cases, especially the genitive.

How It Works

Start from two clauses

A useful way to build a relative clause is to begin with two complete ideas:

• Mies asuu täällä. — “The man lives here.”
• Mies on opettaja. — “The man is a teacher.”

Replace the repeated noun in the second idea with a form of joka and attach the description to its antecedent:

• Mies, joka asuu täällä, on opettaja. — “The man who lives here is a teacher.”

Inside the relative clause, the man is the subject (the person doing the action), so the nominative form joka is required.

Now compare:

• Tunnen miehen. — “I know the man.”
• Mies asuu täällä. — “The man lives here.”
• Mies, jonka tunnen, asuu täällä. — “The man whom I know lives here.”

Inside jonka tunnen, the man is the object of tunnen. The total-object form is genitive singular, so joka becomes jonka. The main-clause form mies does not control that choice.

The core forms of joka

The relative pronoun agrees in number with the antecedent: singular joka, plural jotka. Its case then shows its function inside the relative clause.

Function in the relative clause	Singular	Plural	Common English meaning
Nominative	joka	jotka	who, which, that (subject)
Genitive	jonka	joiden	whose; whom/that (total object)
Partitive	jota	joita	whom/which/that (partitive object)
Essive	jona	joina	on which; as which
Inessive	jossa	joissa	in which, where
Elative	josta	joista	out of/from which, where…from
Illative	johon	joihin	into/to which, where…to
Adessive	jolla	joilla	on/at which; with which
Ablative	jolta	joilta	from which/person
Allative	jolle	joille	to which/person
Translative	joksi	joiksi	into/as which

Less common case forms are possible too, but these cover nearly all everyday needs. The familiar sound changes in johon and joihin are part of the pronoun’s standard declension and should be learned as whole forms.

Subject: joka and jotka

Use the nominative when the relative pronoun is the subject—the person or thing performing the action.

• Lapsi, joka leikkii pihalla, on naapurin poika. — “The child who is playing outside is the neighbour’s son.”
• Lapset, jotka leikkivät pihalla, ovat naapureita. — “The children who are playing outside are neighbours.”

Notice both number changes: plural lapset takes jotka, and the relative-clause verb is plural, leikkivät.

Objects: jonka, jotka, jota, and joita

Finnish object case still applies inside a relative clause. A completed or bounded singular object often appears as jonka:

• Kirja, jonka luin eilen, oli hyvä. — “The book that I read yesterday was good.”

A plural total object is nominative plural jotka:

• Kirjat, jotka lainasin, ovat pöydällä. — “The books that I borrowed are on the table.”

A partitive object—an object marked as incomplete, ongoing, negated, or required by the verb—uses jota or joita:

• Kirja, jota luen, on pitkä. — “The book that I am reading is long.”
• Elokuvat, joita en ole nähnyt, kiinnostavat minua. — “The films that I have not seen interest me.”

Do not choose jonka merely because the antecedent is singular. First ask what case that repeated noun would have inside the relative clause: luin kirjan → jonka luin; luen kirjaa → jota luen.

Possession: jonka and joiden

The genitive forms also mean “whose.” They come directly before the possessed noun:

• Nainen, jonka pojan tunnen, työskentelee täällä. — “The woman whose son I know works here.”
• Opiskelijat, joiden opettaja vaihtui, saivat viestin. — “The students whose teacher changed received a message.”

In the first sentence, jonka marks the woman as the possessor of pojan. The form pojan is itself the total object of tunnen. This creates two genitive-looking forms for two different reasons.

Place and direction

English often uses where, but Finnish selects a local case according to location or movement:

• jossa — in which, where: kaupunki, jossa asun
• josta — from/out of which: kaupunki, josta muutin
• johon — into/to which: kaupunki, johon muutin
• jolla — on/at which: pysäkki, jolla odotin
• jolta — from which: pysäkki, jolta bussi lähtee
• jolle — to which: pysäkki, jolle kävelimme

The choice follows the same government and location patterns as an ordinary noun: asun talossa becomes talo, jossa asun; muutan taloon becomes talo, johon muutan.

Case government still applies

A Finnish verb or expression may require a particular case. That requirement also controls the relative pronoun:

• Pidän tästä kurssista. → kurssi, josta pidän — “the course that I like”
• Luotan tähän lääkäriin. → lääkäri, johon luotan — “the doctor whom I trust”
• Puhun tälle henkilölle. → henkilö, jolle puhun — “the person to whom I am speaking”

English may use a plain that or who here, so translating word by word is unreliable. Reconstruct the ordinary Finnish phrase first.

Postpositions and other linking words

A relative pronoun can also stand before a postposition (a relation word placed after its complement). The pronoun usually takes the case required by that word, commonly the genitive:

• ystävä, jonka kanssa matkustin — “the friend I travelled with”
• syy, jonka vuoksi lähdimme — “the reason why we left”
• talo, jonka takana on puisto — “the house behind which there is a park”

Commas

In standard written Finnish, a relative clause is separated from its antecedent with a comma:

• Tarvitsen tietokoneen, joka toimii nopeasti.

If the clause interrupts the main sentence, place a comma at both ends:

• Tietokone, jonka ostin viime vuonna, toimii edelleen hyvin.

This differs from English, where a defining clause often has no comma. Do not copy English comma choices into Finnish.

Examples in Context

Finnish	English	Note
Mies, joka asuu täällä, on lääkäri.	The man who lives here is a doctor.	joka is the subject.
Ihmiset, jotka odottavat ulkona, pääsevät pian sisään.	The people who are waiting outside will soon get in.	Plural subject jotka.
Kirja, jonka luin, oli yllättävä.	The book that I read was surprising.	Completed singular object.
Kirjat, jotka lainasin, pitää palauttaa huomenna.	The books that I borrowed must be returned tomorrow.	Plural total object.
Tämä on raportti, jota kirjoitan parhaillaan.	This is the report that I am writing right now.	Ongoing action takes the partitive.
Nainen, jonka pojan tunnen, on uusi johtaja.	The woman whose son I know is the new director.	jonka expresses possession.
Talo, jossa asumme, rakennettiin vuonna 1920.	The house where we live was built in 1920.	Interior location: jossa.
Kaupunki, josta hän muutti, on pohjoisessa.	The city that she moved from is in the north.	Movement away: josta.
Ravintola, johon menemme, avataan kuudelta.	The restaurant we are going to opens at six.	Movement into/to: johon.
Henkilö, jolle lähetin viestin, ei ole vastannut.	The person to whom I sent the message has not replied.	Recipient in the allative.
Työkalu, jolla avasin laatikon, oli keittiössä.	The tool with which I opened the box was in the kitchen.	jolla can mark an instrument.
Ystävät, joiden kanssa matkustimme, asuvat Turussa.	The friends we travelled with live in Turku.	Plural genitive before kanssa.
Päivä, jona tapasimme, oli sateinen.	The day on which we met was rainy.	Time expressed with essive jona.
Kaikki, mitä tarvitset, on tässä.	Everything you need is here.	mitä refers back to the broad pronoun kaikki.

Common Mistakes

Using joka for every English “that”

• Wrong: Kirja, joka luin, oli hyvä.
• Right: Kirja, jonka luin, oli hyvä.
• Why: The book is the completed object of luin, not the subject. Use singular object form jonka.

Copying the antecedent’s case

• Wrong: Puhuin miehelle, jolle asuu naapurissa.
• Right: Puhuin miehelle, joka asuu naapurissa.
• Why: miehelle belongs to the main clause. Inside the relative clause, the man is the subject of asuu, so use joka.

Ignoring the partitive

• Wrong: Elokuva, jonka katson nyt, kestää kaksi tuntia.
• Right: Elokuva, jota katson nyt, kestää kaksi tuntia.
• Why: The watching is still in progress. The ordinary phrase is katson elokuvaa, so the pronoun is jota.

Forgetting plural agreement

• Wrong: Naiset, joka työskentelevät täällä…
• Right: Naiset, jotka työskentelevät täällä…
• Why: A plural antecedent requires plural jotka. The finite verb is plural too: työskentelevät.

Treating every “where” as jossa

• Wrong: Kaupunki, jossa muutin viime vuonna…
• Right: Kaupunki, johon muutin viime vuonna…
• Why: Moving to a city involves direction into/to, so use illative johon. Use jossa for being in the city.

Omitting Finnish commas because English omits them

• Wrong: Auto jonka ostimme on sähköauto.
• Right: Auto, jonka ostimme, on sähköauto.
• Why: Standard Finnish punctuation sets off the embedded relative clause with commas.

Usage Notes

In English, choosing between who, which, and that depends partly on whether the antecedent is human and on style. Finnish joka makes no such basic human/non-human distinction: nainen, joka… and kone, joka… are both normal. The crucial distinction is grammatical case.

Finnish usually places the relative clause directly after its antecedent. This prevents ambiguity. Compare the intended clear structure Tapasin Marin, joka työskentelee pankissa (“I met Mari, who works at a bank”). If too much material comes between Marin and joka, the reader may struggle to identify what the clause describes.

Forms such as jossa and johon often translate naturally as English where, but they are not special “where words.” They are case forms of the same pronoun. Thinking in terms of Finnish location pairs—talossa/talosta/taloon—is more dependable than memorising separate translations.

In speech, long relative clauses may be replaced by shorter sentences, especially when several case relationships would be hard to follow. The case system itself, however, is not especially formal: jonka, jota, jossa, and the other forms are normal in everyday conversation.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

joka versus mikä

The main B1 rule is “use the appropriate form of joka after a specific noun.” At higher levels, you will also meet relative forms of mikä (“what/which”). They commonly refer to an entire preceding statement rather than one noun:

• Hän perui tapaamisen, mikä oli harmillista. — “He cancelled the meeting, which was unfortunate.”

Here mikä comments on the whole fact that the meeting was cancelled. Using joka would normally point toward a particular noun antecedent instead.

Forms of mikä also occur naturally after broad pronouns such as se and kaikki, especially when the meaning is “what/whatever” rather than a clearly identified noun:

• Se, mitä sanoit, oli tärkeää. — “What you said was important.”
• Kaikki, mikä kiiltää, ei ole kultaa. — “Not everything that glitters is gold.”

Usage can vary with the structure and with whether the antecedent is understood as a specific item or broad content. For production at B1, keep the safe contrast: a concrete noun normally takes joka; a whole preceding clause takes mikä.

Participles as a compact alternative

Formal or information-dense Finnish often replaces a relative clause with a participle construction (a verb form used like an adjective):

• ihmiset, jotka asuvat Suomessa → Suomessa asuvat ihmiset
• “people who live in Finland” → “people living in Finland”

The relative clause is usually easier to build and understand at B1. Participial alternatives become useful later in news, academic writing, and administrative texts.

Relative adverbs

You may also encounter words such as jolloin (“at which time/when”), jollainen (“the kind that; such as”), and jonne (“where/to which”). They overlap with some case forms but have their own meanings:

• Hetki, jolloin kaikki muuttui — “The moment when everything changed”
• Paikka, jonne menemme — “The place we are going to”

These are useful additions, but they do not replace the core joka paradigm. In many contexts, päivä, jona… and päivä, jolloin… are both possible, with jolloin explicitly presenting the antecedent as a time.

Practice Tips

1. Rebuild the hidden sentence. For ystävä, johon luotan, first say luotan ystävään. Replace ystävään with the matching pronoun form johon. This is the fastest reliable way to choose a case.
2. Practise case families in threes. Make sets such as talo, jossa asun; talo, josta lähden; talo, johon palaan. Then repeat with plural antecedents: talot, joissa… / joista… / joihin….
3. Combine pairs of short sentences. Turn Tunnen naisen. Nainen johtaa yritystä into Tunnen naisen, joka johtaa yritystä. Then reverse the roles: Nainen, jonka tunnen, johtaa yritystä. This makes the relative pronoun’s job visible.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Genitive Case — helps you understand jonka, possession, and singular total objects.
• Next step: Cause and Consequence Clauses — develops longer Finnish sentences with relationships between ideas.