elatiiviplural

Elatiiviplural is the plural form of the elative case in Finnish grammar. It is used to express origin, source, or movement from multiple items or groups, i.e., from the houses, from the cats, from the parties, and so on.

Formation and rules: In many Finnish nouns, the plural is formed with the suffix -t. The elative plural is created by removing this final -t from the nominative plural stem and adding -ista or -istä. The choice between -ista and -istä follows vowel harmony: -ista is used after back vowels (a, o, u), while -istä is used after front vowels (ä, ö, y). The resulting forms are used with or without additional suffixes, such as possessive endings, e.g., taloistamme (from our houses) or kissastamme (from our cats) depending on context.

Examples:

- talot (houses) → taloista (from the houses)

- kissat (cats) → kissoista (from the cats)

- juhlat (parties) → juhlista (from the parties)

- kääpiöt (dwarfs) → kääpiöistä (from the dwarves)

Usage notes: The elative plural is versatile and can cooperate with other grammatical elements, including possessives and demonstratives, producing forms like taloistamme or taloistanne. It is distinct from singular elative forms such as talosta, which express origin from a single item. Some nouns may involve consonant gradation or irregular plural stems, but the basic pattern of -ista/-istä for the plural elative remains common.

See also: Elative case (elatiivi) in Finnish grammar.