Adessiiviset

Adessiiviset is a Finnish linguistic term referring to the adessive forms in Finnish grammar. The adessive case marks location at or on something, and it also appears in certain possessive constructions, notably in the fixed expression “minulla on” meaning “I have.”

Formation and forms

The adessive is formed by attaching a suffix to the word stem. The standard singular suffix is -lla or -llä, chosen according to vowel harmony: stems with back vowels (a, o, u, etc.) take -lla, while stems with front vowels (ä, ö, y, i, e) take -llä. In plural, the suffix becomes -illa or -illä. The exact surface form can vary with phonological adjustments, especially after certain stems, but the general pattern is consistent: talo → talolla (on the house); pöytä → pöydällä (on the table); kukka → kukalla (on the flower). For plural nouns, talot → taloilla (on the houses); pöydät → pöydillä (on the tables).

Usage

Adessive usage covers physical location on a surface or near something, as in talolla or pöydällä. It is also used in expressions of possession with the pronoun in the adessive form, most notably minulla (on me) in phrases like “Minulla on aikaa” (I have time). The adessive forms thus function both as locatives and as markers in possessive constructions.

Relation to other cases

The adessive is one of several locative cases. It contrasts with the inessive (on/in), elative (out of/on), allative (onto/on to), and ablative (from) among others. The choice of case depends on spatial relation or abstract association being described.

See also

Finnish case system, inessive, elative, allative, ablative, essive, translative, comitative, and the possessive usage with adessive forms.