genitive
What Is the Genitive Case?
Most people may not have encountered the term genitive case. In English, you more often hear the term possessive in place of genitive. With nouns, it is usually created by adding 's to the word or by preceding it with of. Be aware that the genitive case is not always about possession. For example,
John's car (clearly possession)
Children's books (not about possession; it's about books for children.)
Picasso's paintings (not about possession; it's about paintings by Picasso)
In Finnish, the genitive case is also predominantly used for showing possession (later we will introduce its other uses). It is created by adding -n to the word. Since the consonant -n closes the syllable the weak grade will be used in words with kpt gradation, e.g., Helsinki (nominative), Helsingin (genitive), kauppa (nominative), kaupan (genitive).
Answers the question Kenen? (Whose?) and Minkä? (Of what? as in The roof of the house...)