to denote the topic about (of, on) which something is said, written
etc.
Inessive
The ending -ssa, -ssä corresponds roughly to the English preposition in. The ending is attached to the genitive stem rather than the basic form.
| Suomessa Helsingissä suomalaisessa perheessä |
'in Finland' 'in Helsinki' 'in a Finnish family' |
The corresponding question word, missä 'where', is the inessive form of the word mikä i.e. 'what' or 'which.'
Elative
The case ending -sta, -stä roughly corresponds to English prepositions from or out of. The elative, like the inessive, is formed by attaching the ending to the genitive stem.
| Suomesta Helsingistä |
'from Finland' 'from Helsinki' |
Besides in the local meaning, the elative is used, among other things:
to denote the topic about (of, on) which something is said, written
etc.
| Mistä presidentti puhuu? Hän puhuu politiikasta. |
'What is the president talking about?' 'He is talking about politics.' |
to denote the thing we thank someone for:
| Kiitos kahvista. Kiitos kortista. |
'Thank you for the coffee.' 'Thank you for the postcard.' |
Last reviewed: Jan 25, 2004.
Please send comments to: prentz@westminstercollege.edu