The partitive case is almost a swear word for those of us who’ve studied or even speak Finnish. Sometimes it makes perfect sense, and sometimes it doesn’t! Once you think you get it, you find out that maybe you don’t. It can mean lots of different things. You need it but you don’t. You love it but you hate it. It’s evasive but it’s also pervasive haha! You get the idea.

I learned the partitive by trying to study it, and when that didn’t really help me grasp it, I TOOK TO THE STREETS. No, really. I read all the ads on the street and I hunted down the partitive. This is one of my favourite ways to learn.

You see, we need lots of exposure to these new concepts in lots of different ways. I didn’t want to make a video that just rehashed what all the grammar books say about the partitive. You can google that. (Actually funny story, the first time I was introduced to the plural partitive in my Finnish book, I wrote  “HOLY SHIT!” in pen beside the lesson and in the table of content.)

Instead, I wanted to show you how learning happens over time, and how your brain needs lots of different pieces of knowledge to fully absorb the partitive case gradually. I exposed my brain to a bit of grammar book knowledge, and when that led me to ‘holy shit’ moments, I gave it up and went outside to see what I really needed it for.

In today’s video, I give you an in-depth example of how I do this using a Subway ad.

I hope you enjoy! If you like this video and want others like it, please let me know! Also if you have an ad you’d think would be great to dissect in a future video, you can reach me here.

xx Irina