(1) That in negative phrases, where the verb is =ei ole=, =ei näy=, =ei
kuulu=, =ei tunnu=, etc. (which are generally rendered in English by
such phrases as ‘there is no,’ or ‘there is not’), the subject is always
in the partitive, e.g. =siellä ei ole ketään=, _there is nobody there_;
=tässä joessa ei ole kaloja=, _there are no fish in this river_.
(2) The partitive can only be the subject to an intransitive verb,
because the mere fact of any word being the subject to a transitive verb
implies that the whole or a definite part of the subject is regarded as
acting. Thus, one can say, =varkaita tuli talooni=, _some thieves came
into my house_; but _some thieves stole my things_ must be rendered by
=varkaat= (_or_ =jotkut varkaat=) =varastivat tavarani=.
The subject can be altogether omitted if it is a pronoun of the first or
second person, and also in certain impersonal expressions, like =tuulee=,
_it is windy_. In such sentences as =on mahdotonta tehdä sitä=, _it is
impossible to do this_, the verbal noun is to be regarded as the subject.
Such sentences as _one says_, or _people say_, where the subject is
indefinite, are expressed in Finnish either by the passive verb (_v._ p.
181), or by the third person plural, no noun or pronoun being employed
to represent the subject. =Sanovat pääskysten jo tulleen=, _they say the
swallows have already come_; =Venäjällä hakkaavat paljo metsää=, _they
cut a great deal of wood in Russia_.
The third person sing. is also used in this sense: =kesällä elää vaikka
ilmalla=, _in summer one can live easily_ (literally, _on air_); =tekee
minkän jaksaa=, _one does as much work as one can_.
The second person sing. is also used in this impersonal sense, much as
in Russian. =Kävelet kadulla, et näe mitään, mutta yht’äkkiä putoat
kuopaan=, _one walks along the street, sees nothing, and suddenly tumbles
into a hole_.
_The Predicate._
The verb of a sentence usually agrees in number with the subject, if the
latter is in the nominative. But
(1) If the subject is in the partitive, either sing. or plural, the verb
is always in the sing. The real subject of the verb in such cases is not
the partitive itself, but such a word as =joukko=, =paljo=, or =vähä=
understood before it.
(2) If the subject is a noun with a numeral (which in Finnish requires
the partitive after it), the verb is also in the singular.
(3) When the verb =olla= is used with the adessive in the construction
rendered by the verb ‘have’ in English, it always remains in the 3rd
sing., no matter what the subject may be.
(4) In proverbs, the Kalevala, and popular speech generally, a singular
verb is very frequently found with a plur. nominative. Such an
irregularity is clearly rendered much easier and less glaring by the
analogy of the cases quoted above.
The verb =olla=, _to be_, is sometimes omitted, especially in proverbial
phrases.
=Oma maa mansikka, muu maa mustikka=, _one’s own land is a strawberry,
foreign lands are only blackberries_. =Ei pyyssä kahden jakoa=, _a
partridge is not enough for two_.
If the predicate takes the form of an auxiliary with a noun or adjective,
this latter may be put in several cases.
I. In the nominative, when the complement expresses a quality inherent in
the subject, without any reference to other things.
II. But it is put in the partitive if the subject is regarded as referred
to a class in common with which the subject shares the quality in
question.
Thus, =veitset ovat terevät= means _these knives_, or _the knives are
sharp_; but =veitset ovat teräviä= means _knives are sharp_, or _belong
to the class of sharp things_. =Kivi on kova=, _the stone is hard_, i.e.
not a soft stone; =kivi on kovaa=, _stone is a hard substance_.