The illative has three different endings: -Vn and -hVn (wher V is always a
vowel identical with the immediately preceding vowel), and -seen. The
illative plural ending is also occasionally -siin. Consonant gradation does not
occur before the illative ending (§15). The basic meaning is ‘into’.
The basic meaning of the illative is ‘(direction) into’, sometimes ‘end
point of a change or movement’.
The ending -Vn occurs after inflectional stems ending in a short vowel
(also in the plural; if the plural stem ends in two vowels the illative
ending is -hVn).
Basic Illative Illative
form singular plural
talo talo/on into the house talo/i/hin
koulu koulu/un to school koulu/i/hin
kaupunki kaupunki/in to the town kaupunke/i/hin
lehti lehte/en into the newspaper leht/i/in
kivi kive/en into the stone kiv/i/in
käsi käte/en into the hand käs/i/in
meri mere/en into the sea mer/i/in
kunta kunta/an into the commune kunt/i/in
ihminen ihmise/en into the person ihinis/i/in
ajatus ajatukse/en into the thought ajatuks/i/in
avain avaime/en into the key avaim/i/in
korkea korkea/an into the high korke/i/hin (-siin)
sairaala sairaala/an into (the) hospital sairaalo/i/hin
The six local cases 113
The ending -hVn occurs after monosyllabic inflectional stems (both singular
and plural) and also after plural stems ending in two vowels.
Basic Illative Illative
plural singular plural
maa maa/han into the country ma/i/hin
tie tie/hen to the road te/i/hin
työ työ/hön to work tö/i/hin
suu suu/hun into the mouth su/i/hin
tämä tä/hän into this nä/i/hin
tuo tuo/hon into that no/i/hin
joka jo/hon into which jo/i/hin
mikä mi/hin into which mi/hin
pullo pullo/on into the bottle pullo/i/hin
kala kala/an into the fish kalo/i/hin
vaikea vaikea/an into the difficult vaike/i/siin (-hin)
purkki purkki/in into the tin purkke/i/hin
The ending -seen occurs after polysyllabic inflectional stems ending in a long
vowel; the illative plural is then either -siin or -hin.
Basic Illative Illative
form singular plural
vapaa vapaa/seen into the free vapa/i/siin (-hin)
harmaa harmaa/seen into the grey harma/i/siin (-hin)
perhe perhee/seen into the family perhe/i/siin (-hin)
tiede tietee/seen into science tiete/i/siin (-hin)
rikas rikkaa/seen into the rich rikka/i/siin (-hin)
taivas taivaa/seen to heaven/ taiva/i/siin (-hin)
into the sky
The examples below illustrate the use of the illative in its basic meaning.
Isä ajaa auton autotalli/in.
Father drives the car into the garage.
Panetko sokeria kahvi/in?
Do you put sugar into (your) coffee?
Hän pani avaimen lukko/on.
He put the key into the lock.
Kyllä minä vastaan puhelime/en.
Yes, I (will) answer the phone.
Lähetän kirjeen Tukholma/an.
I (will) send a letter to Stockholm.
114 Finnish: An Essential Grammar
Seija laski paketin maa/han.
Seija put the parcel on the ground.
Kesällä aion matkustaa Tanska/an.
In the summer I intend to travel to Denmark.
Kuningatar lähtee Lontoo/seen.
The queen is going to London.
Lintu rakensi pesänsä puu/hun.
The bird built its nest in the tree.
Mi/hin ma/i/hin Koivisto lähtee tänä vuonna?
Which countries is Koivisto going to this year?
Aurinko laskee länte/en.
The sun sets in the west.
Aamulla kaikki menevät työ/hön.
In the morning everyone goes to work.
Pekka menee koulu/un.
Pekka goes to school.
Aion mennä sänky/yn.
I intend to go/am going to bed.
Muutamme uute/en paikka/an.
We are moving to a new place.
Nixon ei joutunut vankila/an.
Nixon did not have to go to prison.
The illative is also used for the end point of a movement or change, or the
surface which a movement is directed towards and comes into direct
contact with.
Käte/en tuli haava.
The hand was wounded (‘into the hand came a wound’).
Lamppu ripustetaan katto/on.
The light is hung from (‘into’) the ceiling.
Emäntä panee ruuan pöytä/än.
The hostess puts the food onto the table.
Lapsi panee lakin pää/hän.
The child puts the cap on (his) head.
Pane kengät jalka/an!
Put shoes on your feet (‘into the foot’)!
The six local cases 115
Opettaja löi nyrkin pöytä/än.
The teacher banged his fist on the table.
The illative also occurs in time expressions, indicating the later of two time
limits or the time by which an action has not taken place.
viikosta viikko/on from week to week
aamusta ilta/an from morning to evening
tammikuusta maaliskuu/hun from January to March
En ole käynyt Ruotsissa vuote/en.
I haven’t been to Sweden for a year.
Pekka ei ole ollut kotona kolme/en viikko/on.
Pekka has not been home for three weeks.
En ole nähnyt häntä pari/in tunti/in.
I haven’t seen him for a couple of hours.
Concord rules operate in the normal way.
piene/en kaupunki/in into a small town
pien/i/in kaupunke/i/hin into small towns
korkea/an puu/hun into a high tree
kaikk/i/in kone/i/siin into all the machines
The final consonant of the illative ending is dropped before possessive
suffixes.
talo/on into the house
talo/o/ni into my house
talo/o/mme into our house
talo/i/hin into your houses
talo/i/hi/nne into the houses
