Viidestä

Viidestä is the elative case form of the Finnish numeral viisi, meaning five. It is used to express starting points or sources, particularly in time expressions and phrases that describe where something begins or originates.

Etymology and grammar: Viidestä is formed from the root viisi with the elative case suffix -stä. In Finnish, numerals decline like adjectives, and viidestä specifically signals “from five” in contexts such as time or origin. The illative or other case forms of viisi exist as separate endings (for example, to five), but viidestä is the elative form commonly encountered in everyday language.

Usage and examples: A typical use is to indicate a time range, especially with clock times. For example, kello viidestä kahdeksaan means “from five to eight.” Another common construction is viidestä lähtien, which translates to “from five onwards” or “since five.” Viidestä can also modify a noun in a phrase indicating origin or source, as in a context like “viidestä lähteestä” (from five sources), though the exact noun case depends on the sentence.

Notes: Viidestä is a specialized grammatical form tied to the numeral five and is mainly seen in contexts involving starting points, intervals, or origins. It is distinct from the ordinal viides (the fifth), which is a separate form used to order items rather than indicate a point of origin or a starting point.

See also: Finnish numerals; elative case; time expressions in Finnish.