The relative pronoun joka
"Joka" in its different forms gets translated as "who", "whom" and "whose", as well as "which" in English. It can be inflected in all the cases.
1. Joka
| Finnish | English |
| Tyttö on iloinen. Tyttö laulaa. | The girl is happy. The girl sings. |
| -> Tyttö, joka laulaa on iloinen. | The girl that sings is happy. |
Joka is the most basic of the list, since it's in the nominative. Both sentences only have words in their basic form, so when connected, the conjunction word is in its basic form as well.
2. Jota
| Finnish | English |
| Mies on pankkiryöstäjä. Minä autan miestä. | The man is a bankrobber. I help the man. |
| -> Mies, jota autan on pankkiryöstäjä. | The man that I help is a bankrobber. |
Look at the example. You can see that "mies" has been put in the partitive (miestä). If the word in the simple sentence is in the partitive, the conjunction should be in the partitive as well: jota.
3. Jonka
| Finnish | English |
| Kirja on tylsä. Minä olen ostanut kirjan. | The book is boring. I have bought the book. |
| -> Kirja, jonka olen ostanut, on tylsä. | The book that I have bought, is boring. |
Look at the example. You can see that "kirja" has been put in the genitive (kirjan). If the word in the simple sentence is in the genitive, the conjunction should be in the genitive as well: jonka.
4. Jossa
| Finnish | English |
| Luin lehden. Lehdessä oli uutinen presidentistä. | I read the newspaper. In the newspaper there was news about the president. |
| -> Luin lehden, jossa oli uutinen presidentistä. | I read the newspaper, in which there was news about the president. |
Look at the example. You can see that "lehti" has been put in the inessive (lehdessä). If the word in the simple sentence is in the inessive, the conjunction should be in the inessive as well: jossa.
5. Josta
| Finnish | English |
| Sammakko oli kirottu. Sammakosta tuli prinssi. | The frog was cursed. The frog became a prince. |
| -> Sammakko, josta tuli prinssi oli kirottu. | The frog that became a prince, was under a spell. |
Look at the example. You can see that "sammakko" has been put in the elative (sammakosta). If the word in the simple sentence is in the elative, the conjunction should be in the elative as well: josta.
6. Johon
| Finnish | English |
| Tämä on kaivo. Poika putosi kaivoon. | This is a well. The boy fell into the well. |
| -> Tämä on kaivo, johon poika putosi. | This is the well into which the boy fell. |
Look at the example. You can see that "kaivo" has been put in the illative (kaivoon). If the word in the simple sentence is in the illative, the conjunction should be in the illative as well: johon.
7. Jolla
| Finnish | English |
| Kuningas oli surullinen. Kuninkaalla ei ollut sydäntä. | The king was sad. The king didn't have a heart. |
| -> Kuningas, jolla ei ollut sydäntä, oli surullinen. | The king that didn't have a heart, was sad. |
Look at the example. You can see that "kuningas" has been put in the adessive (kuninkaalla). If the word in the simple sentence is in the adessive, the conjunction should be in the adessive as well: jolla.
8. Jolta
| Finnish | English |
| Mies on autokauppias. Minä ostin auton mieheltä. | The man is a car salesman. I bought a car from the man. |
| -> Mies, jolta ostin auton, on autokauppias. | The man from who I bought a car, is a car salesman. |
Look at the example. You can see that "mies" has been put in the ablative (mieheltä). If the word in the simple sentence is in the ablative, the conjunction should be in the ablative as well: jolta.
9. Jolle
| Finnish | English |
| Tyttö on kaunis. Annoin tytölle suklaarasian. | The girl is beautiful. I gave the girl a chocolate candy box. |
| -> Tyttö, jolle annoin suklaarasian on kaunis. | The girl, to whom I gave a chocolate candy box, is beautiful. |
Look at the example. You can see that "tyttö" has been put in the allative (tytölle). If the word in the simple sentence is in the allative, the conjunction should be in the allative as well: jolle.
More examples:
| Sentence | Question |
| Nainen, joka istuu tuolla, on tyttöystäväni. | Kuka istuu? |
| Nainen, jota minä rakastan, asuu Espanjassa. | Ketä rakastan? |
| Nainen, jonka sinä näet tuolla, on tyttöystäväni. | Kenet näet? |
| Nainen, jonka laukku on tuolilla, puhuu puhelimessa. | Kenen laukku? |
| Nainen, jolla on pitkä tukka, on tyttöystäväni. | Kenellä on? |
| Nainen, jolta minä saan kirjeen, asuu Espanjassa. | Keneltä saan? |
| Nainen, jolle minä kirjoitan kirjeen, asuu Espanjassa. | Kenelle kirjoitan? |
| Maa, jossa hän asuu, on lämmin ja kaunis maa. | Missä hän asuu? |
| Maa, josta hän on kotoisin, on lämmin. | Mistä hän on kotoisin? |
| Maa, johon hän matkustaa, on lämmin. | Mihin hän matkustaa? |
"Joka" in the most common cases:
| Cases | Singular | Plural |
| Nominative | joka | jotka |
| Partitive | jota | joita |
| Genitive | jonka | joiden |
| Inessive | jossa | joissa |
| Elative | josta | joista |
| Illative | johon | joihin |
| Adessive | jolla | joilla |
| Ablative | jolta | joilta |
| Allative | jolle | joille |
| Related grammar |
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Vowel harmony :
Personal pronouns :
The inessive : The elative : The partitive : The genitive : The adessive : The ablative : The allative : The illative |