Prepositsioonita

Prepositsioonita is a term used in Finnish linguistic discussions to describe expressions or constructions that do not contain explicit prepositions (prepositiot). In Finnish, many relational meanings are expressed through case endings and postpositional suffixes rather than separate preposition words. As a result, a large portion of everyday phrases can be described as prepositsioonita.

The concept highlights how Finnish uses its rich system of inflection and postpositions to convey spatial, temporal, directional, and other relational relations without relying on standalone prepositions. Noun phrases often combine with cases such as inessive, elative, illative, allative, and others, or with postpositional forms, to express where something is, where it moves to, or where it comes from. This reduces the need for prepositions even in contexts where many other languages would use them.

Examples illustrating prepositsioonita usage include phrases like mening kotiin (I go home) or olen koulussa (I am at school), where the relation is encoded by illative or inessive forms rather than by a separate preposition. In many everyday Finnish phrases, no separate preposition is present, and the meaning is carried by the noun’s case or by a postpositional suffix.

Relation to other languages is often discussed in typology: languages with strong case systems tend to have higher proportions of prepositsioonita constructions, while languages with extensive prepositional use may show fewer cases. See also Finnish grammar, case system, postpositions.