Finnish Noun Cases
Finnish nouns (including pronouns and numerals) as well as any modifying adjectives, superlatives or comparatives, can be declined by a large number of grammatical cases, which are detailed here. See also Finnish grammar.
The cases generally correspond to the prepositions (in, to, at, ...) found in Indo-European languages. Because of these cases, the use of prepositions in Finnish is very restricted.
Note regarding the examples: Finnish language doesn't differentiate between he and she, or a and the. Thus, context may be required to get an accurate translation.
| Finnish cases | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case | Suffix | English prep. | Example | Translation |
| Grammatical | ||||
| nominatiivi | - | Talo on helppo sana. | House is an easy word. | |
| genetiivi | -n | of | En pidä tämän talon väristä. | I don't like the colour of this house. |
| akkusatiivi | - or -n | - (object, whole) | Maalaan talon. Auta maalaamaan talo! | I'll paint the house. Help me paint the house! |
| partitiivi | -(t)a | - (object, part/incomplete) | Maalaan taloa. | I'm painting the house. |
| Locative (internal) | ||||
| inessiivi | -ssa | in | Asun talossa. | I live in the house. |
| elatiivi | -sta | from (inside) | Poistu talostani! | Get out of my house! |
| illatiivi | -an, -en, etc. | into | Menen hänen taloonsa. | I'm going (in)to his/her house. |
| Locative (external) | ||||
| adessiivi | -lla | at, on | Nähdään talolla! | See you at the house! |
| ablatiivi | -lta | from | Kiersin talolta toiselle. | I traveled from house to another. |
| allatiivi | -lle | to (outside), onto | Koska saavut talolle? | When will you be arriving to the house? |
| Marginal | ||||
| essiivi | -na | as | Käytätkö tätä hökkeliä talona? | Are you using this shack as a house? |
| translatiivi | -ksi | into (change, transformation, not movement) | Muutan sen taloksi. | I'll turn it into a house. |
| instruktiivi | -n | with, using | He levittivät sanomaansa rakentaminsa taloin. | They passed on their message with(using) the houses they built. |
| abessiivi | -tta | without | On vaikeaa elää talotta. | It's difficult to live without a house. |
| komitatiivi | -ne- | together (with) | Hän vaikuttaa varakkaalta monine taloineen. | He appears to be wealthy, with the numerous houses he has. |
Read more about Finnish Noun Cases: Grammatical Cases, Locative Cases, Marginal Cases, Others
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