The elative ending is -sta ~ -stä, which is added to the inflectional stem and
causes consonant gradation in the same way as the inessive. The basic
meaning of the elative is ‘out from inside’.
The basic meaning of the elative is ‘out from inside’, sometimes
‘origin’ or ‘direction away from surface contact’.
Basic Elative Elative
form singular plural
talo talo/sta out of the house talo/i/sta
maa maa/sta out of the country ma/i/sta
kivi kive/stä out of the stone kiv/i/stä
vesi vede/stä out of the water ves/i/stä
ihminen ihmise/stä out of the person ihmis/i/stä
tiede tietee/stä out of science tiete/i/stä
The sentences below illustrate this basic meaning.
Sylvi nousee sängy/stä kello kahdeksan.
Sylvi gets out of bed at eight o’clock.
Noudan paketin posti/sta.
I’ll fetch the parcel from the post office.
Mi/stä Teuvo tulee?
wher does Teuvo come from?
Hän tulee Kemi/stä.
He comes from Kemi.
Nousemme juna/sta satamassa.
We get out of the train at the harbour.
Älä juo olutta pullo/sta!
Don’t drink beer from the bottle!
Pekka tulee koulu/sta.
Pekka comes from school.
Merimiehet karkasivat laiva/sta.
The sailors deserted (‘from’) the ship.
The six local cases 111
Vesi loppuu kaivo/sta.
The well runs out of water (‘the water finishes from the well’).
Tulen hammaslääkäri/stä.
I am coming from the dentist.
Mi/stä löysit kynäsi?
(‘From’) wher did you find your pen?
Otan hatun pää/stä/ni.
I take my hat off my head.
Jyväskylä/stä Helsinkiin
from Jyväskylä to Helsinki
Johtaja on palannut Brasilia/sta.
The director has returned from Brazil.
The elative is also often used for adverbials occurring after certain verbs.
These verbs include those of speaking, writing, thinking, understanding,
liking and knowing.
Pentti kertoo matka/sta/an. Pentti tells about his trip.
Hän puhuu kokemaks/i/sta/an. He speaks of his experiences.
Mitä ajattelet Vennamo/sta? What do you think of Vennamo?
Mitä luulet tä/stä? What do you think of this?
En pidä musta/sta kahvi/sta. I don’t like black coffee.
Minä pidän Liisa/sta. I like Liisa.
Mi/stä sen tiedät? How (‘from what’) do you know?
The elative can also indicate the substance something is made of, origin, and
cause.
Pöytä on tehty puu/sta. The table is made of wood.
Teen puvun villa/sta. I will make the dress out of wool.
Häne/stä tulee lääkäri. He will be (‘out of him will come’)
a doctor.
isä/stä poikaan from father to son
kolme/sta neljään kilometriä from three to four kilometres
Witold on Puola/sta. Witold is from Poland.
Lapsi itkee pelo/sta. The child is crying with (‘from’) fear.
Hän hymyili onne/sta. He smiled with happiness.
Mi/stä syy/stä Ahti lähti? For (‘from’) what reason did Ahti
leave?
Note also the following additional functions of the elative:
kaksi te/i/stä two of you
viisi nais/i/sta five of the women
112 Finnish: An Essential Grammar
Kiitos ruua/sta. Thank you for the food.
Maksan 100 mk taki/sta. I will pay 100 marks for the coat.
Minu/sta hän on sairas. In my opinion (‘of me’) he is ill.
aamu/sta iltaan from morning to evening
Hän on ollut täällä viime He has been here since last year.
vuode/sta.
Concord rules operate in the usual way (§31):
piene/stä talo/sta out of the small house
varhaise/sta aamu/sta from early morning
tä/stä auto/sta out of this car
mu/i/sta ma/i/sta from other countries
