Allatiivipäätteellä

The allatiivipäätteellä, meaning "with the allative case ending" in Finnish, refers to a grammatical construction where a noun is marked with an allative case ending to indicate motion towards a place or destination. In Finnish, this case ending typically takes the form of "-lle".

The allative case is one of the many grammatical cases used in Finnish to express various relationships between words in a sentence. While the illative case expresses movement into something (e.g., "taloon" - into the house), and the adessive case expresses being on or at something (e.g., "talolla" - at the house), the allative specifically denotes movement towards the surface of something or a general direction.

For example, "kaupunki" (city) becomes "kaupunkiin" in the illative case, signifying entry into the city. "Kaupungissa" in the adessive case means "in the city." However, when one is going towards the city, the allative form "kaupunkiin" is used. This is a common point of confusion for learners as the illative and allative can share the same ending in many instances.

The allative ending "-lle" is attached to the noun stem. Common usage includes indicating movement towards a location, such as "mennä kouluun" (to go to school) or "tulla talolle" (to come to the house). It can also be used metaphorically to express direction towards an abstract concept or an event, like "lähteä juhlaan" (to leave for a party). Understanding the nuances of the allative case is crucial for accurate and natural Finnish expression, particularly when describing movement and destination.