【芬兰语语法】§43 ILLATIVE

 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