infinitiviin

Infinitiviin is the illative case form of the Finnish noun infinitiivi, meaning into the infinitive. In Finnish grammar, illative is one of the local cases that marks direction or movement toward something and is used with various nouns to indicate entering or moving into a state or object. The noun infinitiivi denotes the infinitive form of a verb, and its illative form, infinitiviin, appears primarily in linguistic or educational contexts when discussing the concept of the infinitive rather than concrete objects.

Formation and usage

Infinitiviin is formed by adding the illative suffix to the base form infinitiivi. This construction is used in sentences and descriptions where the infinitive itself is the target or reference of discussion, rather than a tangible object. In academic or descriptive writing, infinitiviin may appear in phrases that analyze how verbs are used in the infinitive or how different infinitive forms function within clauses. For example, discussions about the use of the infinitive might refer to its “infinitiiviin” form when illustrating syntactic or semantic points.

Relation to Finnish grammar

The illative case is a broad feature of Finnish grammar with several suffix patterns, chosen according to the stem type of the noun. Infinitiviin exemplifies how a technical term—the infinitive—changes form to fit illative usage. Its appearance is most common in grammar books, dictionaries, and linguistic analyses rather than in everyday language.

See also

Infinitiivi, illative (Finnish), Finnish grammar.