The illative
1. Use
1.1. When you want to use "into" in a sentence
| Finnish |
English |
| Laitan leivän kaappiin. |
I put the bread in the cupboard. |
| Me tulimme Suomeen. |
We came to Finland. |
| Hän astui huoneeseen. |
She entered the room. |
1.2. When talking about time (until)
| Finnish |
English |
| joulukuuhun |
until December |
| yhdestä kuuteen |
from one until six |
| aamusta yöhön |
from morning until night |
1.4. With certain verbs
Finnish has a thing called verb rections: it mean that words connected to certain verbs have to have a special case ending. Learn more about them here.
2. Formation
The illative is one of the 6 location cases. You use it to signify a motion: something going into something. In English, you would use a preposition. In Finnish, you add something to the word. The illative is strong!
2.1 Words ending in 1 vowel a/ä, o/ö or u/y: double the last vowel and -n
| Nominative |
Illative |
Nominative |
Illative |
Nominative |
Illative |
| kala |
kalaan |
tyyny |
tyynyyn |
talo |
taloon |
| seinä |
seinään |
söpö |
söpöön |
melu |
meluun |
2.2. Words with a stem that ends in two of the same vowels: add -seen/-seen
| Nominative |
Stem |
Illative |
Nominative |
Stem |
Illative |
| huone |
huonee- |
huoneeseen |
taivas |
taivaa- |
taivaaseen |
kappale |
kappalee- |
kappaleeseen |
rikas |
rikkaa- |
rikkaaseen |
| perhe |
perhee- |
perheeseen |
Espoo |
Espoo- |
Espooseen |
Lontoo |
Lontoo- |
Lontooseen |
osoite |
osoittee- |
osoitteeseen |
2.3. Words ending in two different vowels: double the last vowel and add -n
| Nominative |
Illative |
Nominative |
Illative |
Nominative |
Illative |
| radio |
radioon |
televisio |
televisioon |
Italia |
Italiaan |
museo |
museoon |
video |
videoon |
Aasia |
Aasiaan |
| allergia |
allergiaan |
kapea |
kapeaan |
vihreä |
vihreään |
2.4. Words of one syllable eneding in two vowels: add h + vowel + n
| Nominative |
Illative |
Nominative |
Illative |
Nominative |
Illative |
| työ |
työhön |
tie |
tiehen |
muu |
muuhun |
pää |
päähän |
maa |
maahan |
yö |
yöhön |
| kuu |
kuuhun |
suu |
suuhun |
sää |
säähän |
2.5. Words ending in -i
2.5.1. New words ending in -i: double the last vowel and add -n
| Nominative |
Illative |
Nominative |
Illative |
Nominative |
Illative |
| banaani |
banaaniin |
paperi |
paperiin |
kahvi |
kahviin |
| pankki |
pankkiin |
posti |
postiin |
maali |
maaliin |
| tili |
tiliin |
adverbi |
adverbiin |
dollari |
dollariin |
New words are words that haven't been around for ages yet. Usually they're recognisable because they're a loanword, like "pankki" for "bank", or "paperi" for "paper".
2.5.2. Old words ending in -i: replace -i- with e, double that vowel and add -n
| Nominative |
Illative |
Nominative |
Illative |
Nominative |
Illative |
| suomi |
suomeen |
ovi |
oveen |
järvi |
järveen |
| kivi |
kiveen |
suuri |
suureen |
nimi |
nimeen |
| pieni |
pieneen |
lehti |
lehteen |
pilvi |
pilveen |
Old words are very often nature words. After all, nature has been around for so long that Finns have had names for them since the very beginning. Some words are confusing, for example "äiti" (mother) is actually a new Finnish word!
2.5.3. Words ending in -si: replace -si- with -te, double the last vowel and ass -n
| Nominative |
Illative |
Nominative |
Illative |
Nominative |
Illative |
| uusi |
uuteen |
vuosi |
vuoteen |
käsi |
käteen |
| kuukausi |
kuukauteen |
vesi |
veteen |
reisi |
reiteen |
2.5. Consonant gradation
Wordtype A |
| Nominative |
Illative |
Nominative |
Illative |
Nominative |
Illative |
| tyttö |
tyttöön |
pankki |
pankkiin |
puku |
pukuun |
| pöytä |
pöytään |
hattu |
hattuun |
kauppa |
kauppaan |
| silta |
siltaan |
kampa |
kampaan |
hiekka |
hiekkaan |
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Wordtype B |
| Nominative |
Illative |
Nominative |
Illative |
Nominative |
Illative |
| savuke |
savukkeeseen |
opas |
oppaaseen |
keitin |
keittimeen |
| tavoite |
tavoitteeseen |
rakas |
rakkaaseen |
hammas |
hampaaseen |
| soitin |
soittimeen |
puhallin |
puhaltimeen |
allas |
altaaseen |
2.4. Words ending in -nen: replace the -nen with -se/-se before add -en
| Nominative |
Illative |
Nominative |
Illative |
Nominative |
Illative |
| nainen |
naiseen |
hevonen |
hevoseen |
suomalainen |
suomalaiseen |
| eteinen |
eteiseen |
iloinen |
iloiseen |
ihminen |
ihmiseen |
| sininen |
siniseen |
toinen |
toiseen |
tavallinen |
tavalliseen |
2.6. Words ending in in consonant: here
