Lausetyypit <> The Different Clauses 

This is really where things get complicated. You don't need to know this part very well if you just want to be able to speak Finnish. But it can be useful to know the terminology if you want to study the more complicated Finnish grammar.

First I'll explain some of the terms used in the following explanation of the different clauses:

Subjekti        --->    The subject. Usually a person or people. The main thing that you are talking about in the sentence.
Objekti          --->    The object. That which is affected by the subject.
Predikaati     --->    The predicate. The main verb.
Predikatiivi   --->     The predicative. Only used in the predicative clause. The description of the subject.
Adverbiaali   --->     The adverbial. That which tell us where, when or how an action occurs.
Atribuutti      --->      The attribute. Extra information. Usually an adjective referring to the subject, object or adverbial. The sentence would still                                       make sense without the attribute.  

And now let's look at some of the different clauses that it can be useful to understand:

The Predicative Clause    /      Predikatiivilause

In this type of clause, we always use the verb olla. It's the most simple of all the clauses. 

For example:

Mies on pitkä.                              Minä en ole opiskelija.                                 Auto oli iso ja punainen.

Mies  =   Subjekti                         Minä          =       Subjekti                            Auto            =           Subjekti        
on     =   Predikaati                      en ole       =        Predikaati                         oli               =           Predikaati    
pitkä  =  Predikatiivi                     opiskelija   =        Predikatiivi                       iso              =          Predikatiivi
                                                                                                                        ja               =          Konjunktio
                                                                                                                    punainen       =          Predikatiivi

Notice that even when the sentence is negative, the predicative is not in the partitive form. Only the object or subject (and relating attributes/demonstrative pronouns) can be partitive!

The Intransitive Clause        /       Intransitiivilause 

This refers to a sentence that contains an intransitive verb and therefore does not contain an object. 

For example:

Mies juoksee.                              Minä kävelen kouluun.                        Kaunis nainen kävi uudessa kahvilassa lauantaina.

Mies        =     Subjekti                 Minä         =        Subjekti                   Kaunis            =          Atribuutti
juoksee   =     Predikaati              kävelen    =        Predikaati                nainen            =          Subjekti
                                                    kouluun    =        Adverbiaali               kävi                =          Predikaati
                                                                                                               uudessa         =          Atribuutti
                                                                                                               kahvilassa      =          Adverbiaali
                                                                                                               lauantaina      =          Adverbiaali

The Transitive Clause     /       Transitiivilause

This refers to a sentence containing an object.

For example:

Mies rakentaa talon.                           Pienet lapset odottavat bussia.                     Viisas mies kirjoittaa pitkää kirjettä illalla.

Mies         =       Subjekti                     Pienet        =        Atribuutti                            Viisas           =           Atribuutti
rakentaa   =       Predikaati                  lapset        =        Subjekti                              mies            =            Subjekti
talon         =       Objekti                       odottavat   =        Predikaati                          kirjoittaa       =            Predikaati
                                                            bussia       =         Objekti                               pitkää          =            Atribuutti
                                                                                                                                  kirjettä          =            Objekti
                                                                                                                                  illalla             =            Adverbiaali

The Ownership Clause       /        Omistuslause

This refers to a sentence that states that one has or doesn't have something. This type of clause can't contain an object.

For example:

Minulla on koira.                                   Meillä ei ole lasta.                                       

Minulla       =         Adverbiaali              Meillä        =       Adverbiaali
on              =         Predikaati                ei ole         =       Predikaati
koira          =         Subjekti                   lasta          =       Subjekti


The Existential Clause        /          Eksistentiaalilause

This is a sentence that takes the form of "Jossakin on jotakin".

For example:

Kadulla on poliisiauto.                            Luokassa ei ole tietokonetta.                              Baarissa oli hyvä bändi eilen.

Kadulla       =        Adverbiaali                Luokassa         =         Adverbiaali                       Baarissa            =          Adverbiaali
on               =        Predikaati                  ei ole                =         Predikaati                         oli                     =          Predikaati    
poliisiauto   =        Subjekti                     tietokonetta      =         Subjekti                             hyvä                 =          Atribuutti
                                                                                                                                           bändi                =          Subjekti
                                                                                                                                           eilen                 =          Adverbiaali