Adessiivina

Adessiivi­na (adessiivi) is a term used in Finnish grammar to describe the adessive case form of a noun or pronoun when it functions in a sentence as an adessive. The adessive marks location on a surface or at a place, commonly translated into English as "on" or "at." It is one of the locative cases in Finnish and contrasts with the inessive (on the surface, “in”) and allative (movement to a surface, “onto/onto the”), among others.

Formation and usage. In singular, the adessive suffix is typically -lla or -llä, depending on vowel harmony and the noun’s stem. In plural, the suffix becomes -illa or -illä. Examples include pöydällä (on the table), ovella (at the door), kädellä (by hand). The exact form also reflects the noun’s consonant or vowel ending and may involve stem changes for certain words. Beyond indicating location, the adessive is used in possessive constructions, especially in existential clauses, as in Minulla on aikaa, where minulla is the adessive form of minä and means “I have” or “on me.”

Functions and distinctions. The adessive differs from other locative cases by its primary sense of location on a surface or at a place, rather than inside (inessive) or toward (allative). It can also interact with pronominal possessors, time expressions, and certain fixed expressions in Finnish. The form adessiivina is used when describing the role or function of a noun within this locative framework (i.e., to refer to the noun’s adessive case form or its use as such in a sentence).

See also. Finnish grammar basics, locative cases (inessive, elative, allative, adessive, ablative, illative), and possessive constructions.