Expressing the word “with” in North Sami requires changing the ending of a noun rather than using a separate preposition.

This grammatical feature is known as the comitative case.

While the name sounds technical, the concept is very straightforward once you see it in action.

You’ll use this case constantly in everyday conversation to talk about who you’re with and what tools or transport you’re using.

What is the comitative case?

In English, we use the preposition “with” before a noun, such as “with a friend” or “with a knife”.

North Sami doesn’t use a separate word for this.

Instead, it attaches a specific suffix to the end of the noun.

In North Sami, the comitative case is called komitatiiva.

If you want to ask someone who they’re with, you use the comitative question word geainna (with whom) or mainna (with what).

How to form the comitative case in North Sami

To put a noun into the comitative case, you first need to find the weak stem of the word.

This is the same stem you use for the genitive and accusative cases, which means it undergoes consonant gradation.

For singular nouns, you add the ending -in to the weak stem.

If the weak stem already ends in an -i, the two letters combine to form -iin.

For plural nouns, you attach the ending -iguin to the weak stem.

The plural ending -iguin is actually quite easy to spot because it’s so long and distinct.

Here’s how the comitative endings look across standard even-syllable nouns:

Notice how beana (dog) is an odd-syllable noun, so its stem lengthens to beatnag- before taking the -iin suffix.

If you’re using an adjective to describe the noun, the adjective doesn’t take the -in or -iguin ending.

Instead, the adjective goes into the genitive form.

In that example, buori is the genitive form of buorre (good), while ustibiin has the comitative ending.

When to use the comitative case

There are three main situations where you’ll need the comitative case in daily North Sami conversation.

1. Company and companionship

Whenever you do an action together with someone or something, you use the comitative case.

2. Tools and instruments

When you use an object or tool to perform an action, North Sami uses the comitative case to mean “with” or “by means of”.

3. Modes of transportation

In English, we usually say we travel “by” car, bus, or train.

In North Sami, you travel “with” the vehicle, using the comitative case.

Comitative personal pronouns

You’ll often want to say “with me”, “with you”, or “with them”.

Because North Sami has singular, dual (for two people), and plural (for three or more people) pronouns, each of these has a comitative form.

Here’s how you can use these pronouns in simple sentences:

Regional variations in other Sami languages

The comitative case exists across all the Sami languages, though the exact endings change depending on the region.

Even within North Sami, you’ll hear a common spoken shortcut regarding the plural ending -iguin.

Historically, -iguin developed from the postposition guovttos / guokte (meaning a pair or company).

Because of this origin, if you have two nouns in the comitative plural joined by ja (and), speakers often drop the -guin from the first noun.

For example, instead of saying mánáiguin ja beatnagiiguin (with children and dogs), you can say mánái ja beatnagiiguin.

If you’re learning Lule Sami or South Sami, the comitative functions the exact same way grammatically, but the suffixes look different:

• Lule Sami: Uses -jn or -jna in the singular (e.g., bielajn - with a bell) and -j in the plural.
• South Sami: Uses -ine or -inie in the singular (e.g., bïjline - with a car).
• Inari Sami: Uses -in in the singular and -igijn in the plural, which is very close to North Sami.

To get comfortable with the North Sami comitative case, start by practicing with the modes of transport and tools you use every single day.