illatiivin

Illatiivin, or the illative case, is a Finnish grammatical case used to mark movement into a place or direction toward a destination. It is one of the locative cases and is commonly translated into English as into.

Formation and forms: The illative is expressed through suffixes attached to the noun stem. The suffix has several allomorphs, chosen according to vowel harmony and the stem’s ending. Common singular endings include -aan/-äen, -oon/-öön, and -iin/-öin, giving examples such as taloon (into the house), kauppaan (into the shop), and jokeen (into the river). The plural illative ends in -ihin, as in taloihin, kauppoihin, jokeihin (into the houses, into the shops, into the rivers).

Usage: The illative is used with verbs of motion or direction to indicate entry into or toward a location. It answers questions like mihin? into what place? and appears frequently with verbs such as mennä (to go) and lähteä (to leave for). Examples: “Menen taloon.” (I’m going into the house.) “Lähden kauppaan.” (I’m heading to the shop.) The illative contrasts with other cases that express from, inside, or onto, such as elatiive (from), inessive (in/at), and allative (onto/to a surface).

Notes: Illatiivin forms vary by stem and dialect, reflecting vowel harmony and consonant changes. In everyday Finnish, illative combinations are productive and common with nouns referring to places, buildings, and locations, and they also occur in plural forms to indicate movement into multiple destinations.