Illatiiviä

Illatiivi is a case in the Finnish language, and also present in some other Finno-Ugric languages. It functions as a locative case, indicating movement into a place or location. In English, the meaning of the illative case is often expressed by prepositions such as "into" or "in".

The illative case is formed by adding specific suffixes to the stem of a noun, adjective, or pronoun. The exact ending depends on the word's declension class and vowel harmony. For example, a common illative ending for words with front vowels is -Vn, where V is a vowel that harmonizes with the stem. For words with back vowels, the ending is often -hVn.

Examples of the illative in Finnish include "taloon" (into the house), "metsään" (into the forest), and "kaupunkiin" (into the city). The case is crucial for conveying spatial relationships and is a fundamental part of Finnish grammar. While the primary function is directional, it can also be used metaphorically to indicate entering a state or condition, such as "uneen" (into sleep). The illative is one of several locative cases in Finnish, alongside the inessive (in), elative (out of), and allative (onto). Its distinction lies in signifying ingress or the destination of movement.