Elatiivimuotoon

Elatiivimuotoon is a Finnish grammar term that refers to inflecting a word into the elative form, i.e., the elative case. The elative expresses origin or movement from something, such as “from” or “out of” a place. It is used with nouns, pronouns and adjectives in appropriate contexts to indicate source or departure from a location.

Formation in singular and plural: For most Finnish nouns, the elative singular is formed by attaching a suffix to the stem. The common endings are sta or stä, chosen in accordance with vowel harmony and the stem's phonology. Examples include talo -> talosta (from the house) and kauppa -> kaupasta (from the shop). Some stems produce forms like koneesta (from the machine). In the plural, the elative takes the -ista/-istä ending, as in taloista (from the houses) or kaupoista (from the shops).

Usage and meaning: The elative is used to indicate origin, source, or movement away from a location, often with verbs of motion or acquisition. It answers questions such as “Where from?” in phrases like “Ostin kahvia kaupasta” (I bought coffee from the shop). The elative can also appear in descriptive phrases to specify the source of something or someone.

Relation to other forms: Elatiivimuotoon is related to other Finnish cases such as illative (into), inessive (in), and translative (into as a change of state). The term elatiivimuotoon specifically highlights converting a word to its elative form as part of grammatical exercises or analyses.

See also: Finnish grammar, elatiivi (elative case), illatiivi, inessii, translatiivi.