Illatiivikäännöksen

Illatiivikäännöksen, commonly referred to as the illative in Finnish grammar, is a case form used to express movement into a location or object. It answers questions like into what or to where one is going, and is one of the primary locative cases in Finnish.

The illative is formed by attaching a suffix to the noun stem. The exact suffix varies according to phonological rules, particularly vowel harmony and the stem’s ending. Common illative endings include -oon, -een/-öön, -iin, -iin, as well as -an/-än in certain words. Examples illustrating typical patterns are talo → taloon (into the house), koti → kotiin (into the home), pöytä → pöytään (onto the table), maa → maahan (into the ground), kylä → kylään (into the village). The plural illative forms often end in -iin or -ihin, as in taloihin (into the houses) or kyliin (into the villages).

Usage notes: The illative is used with verbs of motion and related constructions to indicate direction toward a place or object. It is commonly seen with verbs like mennä (to go) and tulla (to come), for example: Menen taloon. (I am going into the house.) Hän menee kouluun. (He goes to school.) Monikon illatiivimuotoja käytetään esimerkiksi taloihin. (Plural illatives such as taloihin are used for “into the houses.”)

Relation to other cases: The illative forms a set with other locative cases (inessive, elative, adessive, allative, ablative) that express location, origin, or direction in different contexts. Proper use depends on word structure and vowel harmony.

See also Finnish grammar, inflection, and locative cases.