The use of the numbers presents some peculiarities.
A. =Yksi=, _one_, is an adjective which agrees with the substantive it
qualifies. =Hän aina puhuu yhtä asiaa=, _he always talks on one subject_.
=Olla yhdessä neuvossa=, _to be concerned in a plan_.
B. The other numbers require that the word they qualify should be in the
partitive singular, _if the number is in the nominative_. Under these
circumstances the verb is the singular. =Kolme poikaa on talossa=, _three
boys are in the house_. =Viisi tuhatta miestä=, _5000 men_. =Seitsemän
kalaa=, _seven fishes_.
But with words that have no singular, both the numeral and substantive
are put in the nominative. =Yhdet, kahdet häät=, _one, two marriages_.
=Viidet sakset=, _five pairs of scissors_. =Kahdeksat sukat=, _eight
pairs of stockings_.
C. If the numeral is in an oblique case, then the substantive is put in
the same case also, _but in the singular_. =Viidelle pojalle=, _to five
boys_. =Kolmelle kymmenelle miehelle=, _to thirty-six men_.
But in the Kalevala, one finds such expressions as =löyti kuusia jyviä=,
=Seitsemiä siemeniä=.
D. If the number and substantive have a pronoun or adjective agreeing
with them, this latter is put in the plural and in the same case as the
number. But the substantive obeys the preceding rules, if the attribute
is in the nominative plural, the verb is also in the plural. =Nämät
viisi poikaa tulivat kotia=, _these five boys come home_. =Anna leipää
näille viidelle pojalle=, _give some bread to these five boys_.
N.B. In all the numbers except =yksi= the accusative is the same as the
nominative. =Näin kaksi miestä=, _I saw two men_. =Ampui viisi lintuja=;
_he shot five birds_; but =Näin yhden miehen=, _I saw one man_.
_Expression of a date._
I. To express the year the word =vuosi= is employed, and a cardinal
number after it. If =vuosi= is used in the local or in the essive case
this number is not inflected. =Vuonna tuhatta= (_or_ =tuhat=) =kahdeksan
sataa kahdeksankymmentä yhdeksän=, _in the year 1889_.
But if the genitive of =vuosi= is used, then the number is also put in
the genitive. =Vuoden tuhatta kahdeksan sataa kahdeksankymmentä viiden
sato=, _the harvest of 1885_.