matkasta

Matkasta is the elative singular form of the Finnish noun matka, meaning journey or trip. In Finnish grammar, the elative case (suffix -sta/-stä) is used to indicate origin or source and, in many contexts, to express the topic of discussion or writing. Therefore matkasta can mean “from the trip” in literal contexts or “about the trip” when used with verbs and constructions that take the elative.

Common usages include verbs that govern the elative, such as puhua (to talk about), kertoa (to tell about), and kirjoittaa (to write about). For example, Puhuimme matkasta koko illan (We talked about the trip all evening). Kirjoitan matkasta, joka tapahtui viime kesänä (I am writing about the trip that happened last summer). Another frequent construction is to indicate a topic or subject: Matkasta on monia tarinoita (There are many stories about the trip).

Matkasta is a flexible, everyday word in Finnish travel writing and conversation. It is one of the standard ways to express “about the trip” or “from the trip” without using prepositions, relying instead on the case system. Related forms arise from the noun matka in other cases (e.g., matkan = genitive: the trip’s, matkasta = elative: from/about the trip, matkaa = partitive: some of the trip).

See also: matka.