How can I learn Finnish rektio or rections?

Vural asks:
 
How can i learn verbi rektio helposti (easily). What is logic for them?
 
My answer:
 
Hi Vural, thanks for the great question!
 
Rektio or rection means the phenomenon in Finnish where a verb (or another word) needs words that go together with the verb to be in a certain form. For example, the verb tykätä ‘to like’ goes together with the elative or Mistä case.

Mä tykkään suklaasta.
I like chocholate+Mistä.
I like chocolate.

The elative also means ‘where from’:

Mistä sinä tulet?
Where are you coming from?

That means that rections can be really confusing and difficult to remember in the beginning. The trick is to learn the verb and its rection as a whole. I like to think of minä tykkään + Mistä as a frame where I can susbtitute X with anything:

Minä tykkään X:stä - I like X

Minä tykkään suklaasta - I like chocolate
Minä tykkään sinusta - I like you
Minä tykkään pullasta - I like pulla 

and so forth.

My main advice for learning verb rections is learning them verb by verb along with the form that goes with the verb. So each time your learn a new verb, look at how is behaves in a sentence, and pay attention to the forms of the other words in the sentence.

However, there are patterns and even a certain logic to verb rections. Verbs and their rections fall into patterns, and it can really help to know about these patterns. Here are a few common ones to start with.

For example, verbs that express a sensory experience go together with the ablative case (miltä):
 
Ruoka tuoksuu ihanalta. - The food smells wonderful. 
Paita näyttää hyvältä. - The shirt looks good. 
Musiikki kuulostaa hyvältä. - The music sounds good. 
Hieronta tuntuu mukavalta. - The massage feels nice. 
 
With these verbs, the allative case (mille) is also possible and means exactly the same thing.
Uusi kielemme has done a wonderful job listing different rection patterns, so I won’t do the same job twice! You can find all their rection articles here: https://uusikielemme.fi/?s=rections
 
Rections are an example of Finnish grammar where it’s easy to get overwhelmed and lose steam. How can I say anything at all if I’m not sure about what case the other words should be in? The good news is, it’s often not a big deal to choose the wrong form. Rections are also something that native speakers struggle with, because they are sometimes different in spoken forms Finnish and standard written Finnish. 

​The Finnish case system is just like the prepostition system of English and other European languages, where there’s a lot to learn case by case and mistakes are to be expected during the learning process. Just like in English, there might be some minor misuderstandings if you choose the wrong form, but usually not serious ones. As you hear and read more and more Finnish, the correct forms will start to become automatic.  

Readers, what has worked for you for learning rections? 

Tykkään suklaakakusta tosi paljon. 
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