Inesiivistä
Inesiivi, or inessiivi, is a locative case in Finnish used to express location inside something. It answers the question where something is in a static sense, corresponding to the English "in" or "inside." The form is commonly used with concrete places as well as with containers or enclosed spaces, and it helps distinguish location within boundaries from movement into (illative) or location on surfaces (adessive).
The inesiivi has two number forms:
- Singular: suffix -ssa or -ssä, depending on vowel harmony and the stem. Example: talo -> talossa (in
- Plural: suffix -issa or -issä. Example: talo -> taloissa (in the houses), laatikko -> laatikoissa (in the boxes).
- Inesiivi denotes static location inside a container, building, or interior space, rather than movement into it
- It is used with nouns and can appear with possessive constructions, adjectives, and other parts of
- Finnish also uses other locative cases for related meanings, such as elatiivi (out of) and illatiivi
- Kissa on talossa. (The cat is in the house.)
- Vesi on pullossa. (The water is in the bottle.)
- Avain on laatikossa. (The key is in the drawer.)
Inesiivi is one of the several locative cases in Finnish, rooted in the broader Finnic and Uralic
Finnish grammar, Illatiivi, Adessiivi, Elatiivi, Locative cases.