Raamatukogusse

Raamatukogusse is the illative form of the Estonian noun raamatukogu, meaning a library. It is used to express movement toward a library or into a library, answering the question kuhu? “Where to?” in grammatical terms.

Formation and usage

In Estonian, the illative case marks direction into a place. For raamatukogu, the illative singular is raamatukogusse, formed by adding the suffix -sse to the stem raamatukogu, with standard phonological adjustment. The form is typically used with verbs of motion, such as minema or sisenema: Ma lähen raamatukogusse. Ta sisenes raamatukogusse.

Plural and related forms

To refer to moving into multiple libraries, the plural illative raamatukogudesse is used (raamatukogud = libraries, + -esse). Example: Me läheme raamatukogudesse.

Etymology

Raamatukogu is a compound of raamat (book) and kog(u) (a gathering or collection), reflecting the function of a library as a place where books are gathered. The illative suffix -sse is a standard Estonian marker of direction “into.”

Notes

Raamatukogusse contrasts with raamatukogus (in the library), which uses the inessive locative case to indicate location rather than movement. The term is common in spoken and written Estonian and appears in everyday instructions, travel phrases, and literature.