English puts these little relationship words before the noun: "in front of the house", "after the lesson", "with a friend". Finnish usually does the opposite — the word goes after the noun and is called a postposition. And nearly all of them require the noun in front to be in the genitive.
In short: a postposition follows the word and takes the genitive: talon edessä (in front of the house), tunnin jälkeen (after the lesson). Finnish has few true prepositions, and they usually take the partitive: ennen joulua (before Christmas), ilman rahaa (without money).
Why postpositions take the genitive
Historically, postpositions are frozen noun forms ("the front part", "the under part"). So the word before them stands in the genitive, as if you said "the house's front part". Hence the rule: noun in the genitive (-n) + postposition.
| Finnish | Literally | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| talon edessä | house's front | in front of the house |
| pöydän alla | table's under | under the table |
| opettajan kanssa | teacher's with | with the teacher |
| tunnin jälkeen | lesson's after | after the lesson |
Common postpositions with the genitive
These show up in your very first month. All of them follow a word in the genitive.
| Postposition | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| kanssa | with (someone) | ystävän kanssa — with a friend |
| jälkeen | after | työn jälkeen — after work |
| edessä | in front of | talon edessä — in front of the house |
| takana | behind | kaupan takana — behind the shop |
| alla | under | pöydän alla — under the table |
| päällä | on top of | pöydän päällä — on the table |
| vieressä | next to | koulun vieressä — next to the school |
| luona | at someone's place | äidin luona — at mum's |
| keskellä | in the middle of | kaupungin keskellä — in the middle of town |
| ympäri | around | maailman ympäri — around the world |
| takia / vuoksi | because of | sään takia — because of the weather |
| mukaan | according to | sään mukaan — according to the weather |
| aikana | during | tunnin aikana — during the lesson |
Three forms: where, from where, to where
Place postpositions, like the local cases, distinguish three directions: where (static), from where, and to where. The ending of the postposition changes, while the word in front stays in the genitive.
| Where (static) | From where | To where |
|---|---|---|
| edessä (in front) | edestä (from the front) | eteen (to the front) |
| takana (behind) | takaa (from behind) | taakse (to behind) |
| alla (under) | alta (from under) | alle (to under) |
| päällä (on) | päältä (off) | päälle (onto) |
| vieressä (beside) | vierestä (from beside) | viereen (to beside) |
| luona (at) | luota (from) | luo / luokse (to) |
For example: Kissa on pöydän alla (the cat is under the table — where), Kissa tulee pöydän alta (the cat comes out from under the table — from where), Kissa menee pöydän alle (the cat goes under the table — to where).
Prepositions: few, and with the partitive
True prepositions (before the word) are few in Finnish, and most take the partitive, not the genitive.
| Preposition | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ennen | before | ennen joulua — before Christmas |
| ilman | without | ilman rahaa — without money |
| pitkin | along | pitkin katua — along the street |
| kohti | towards | kohti keskustaa — towards the centre |
| vasten | against | seinää vasten — against the wall |
A few words work as both preposition and postposition: ympäri (talon ympäri / ympäri kaupunkia), keskellä. Getting it wrong won't stop you being understood — but in writing, keep one form.
Common mistakes
- Nominative instead of genitive: ✗ talo edessä → ✓ talon edessä. Before a postposition it's almost always the genitive with -n.
- Mixing up the three forms: "put it on the table" is to where: pöydän päälle, not päällä.
- kanssa without the genitive: ✗ minä kanssa → ✓ minun kanssa(ni) (with me).
Postpositions are the bridge between cases and everyday speech — you can't build a simple "let's meet after the lesson by the entrance" without them. To see how they fit the whole system, from the alphabet to cases and sentences, start with our guide to how long Finnish really takes, and practise it live in a structured course at Hei Study.