Illative / Study Finnish

The Illative (illatiivi) case is part of the internal locative cases. It typically corresponds to the “into” preposition in English, and usually refers to a change or observation of “something going from outside to inside”. In Finnish it is indicated by the -Vn suffix, where the V is a vowel followed by an -n.

Concept

When something is going to and into something else.
When phrasing or expressing time.

Usage

When going to and into something

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When something is going to and into something else, double the vowel and add the appropriate -Vn or -hVn suffix.

Table for the list of illative locative case conjugation examples for when going to and into something
Word	Translation	Example	Example translated
Talo	House	Taloon, taloihin	Into the house(s)
Kaappi	Cupboard	Kaappiin, kaappeihin	Into the cupboard(s)
Laatikko	Box	Laatikkoon, laatikoihin	Into the box(es)
Tasku	Pocket	Taskuun, taskuihin	Into the pocket(s)
Auto	Car	Autoon, autoihin	Into the car(s)

When phrasing or expressing time

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To identify the time until something occurs the Illative case is used.

Table for the list of illative locative case conjugation examples for when phrasing or expressing time
Word	Translation
Kolmeen asti	Until 3.00
Iltaan asti	Until the evening
Elokuuhun asti	Until August
Keskipäivästä keskiyöhön asti	From noon until midnight
Ensi vuoteen asti	Until next year

Formation

When words end in a single vowel

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Words that end in a single vowel of -a/-ä, -o/-ö or -u/-y double their last vowel before adding the -n suffix.

Table for the list of illative locative case conjugation examples for when conjugating Finnish words that end in a single vowel of -a/-ä, -o/-ö or -u/-y
Word	Conjugation
Talo	Taloon
Sänky	Sänkyyn
Kaappi	Kaappiin

When word stem ends with 2 same vowels

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Words which have a stem that ends in 2 of the same vowels simply add the -seen suffix.

Table for the list of illative locative case conjugation examples for when conjugating words with stems that end in the same 2 vowels
Word	Conjugation
Huonee-	Huoneeseen
Osoitee-	Osoitteeseen
Espoo-	Espooseen

When word stem ends with 2 different vowels

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Words which have a stem that end in 2 different vowels double their last vowel before adding the -n suffix.

Table for the list of illative locative case conjugation examples for when conjugating words with stems that end in 2 different vowels
Word	Conjugation
Museo	Museoon
Vaikea	Vaikeaan
Pimeä	Pimeään

When words are 1 syllable and end in 2 vowels

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Words that are only 1 syllable and end in 2 vowels add an -hVn pattern suffix, where the vowel in the middle of the suffix is the same as the last vowel of the word.

Table for the list of illative locative case conjugation examples for when conjugating words that are 1 syllable and end in 2 vowels
Word	Conjugation
Kuu	Kuuhun
Maa	Maahan
Yö	Yöhön

When words end in -nen

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Words that end in -nen change to -se before adding the -en suffix.

Table for the list of illative locative case conjugation examples for when conjugating words that end in -nen
Word	Conjugation
Suomalainen	Suomalaiseen
Sininen	Siniseen
Ukkonen	Ukkoseen

New Finnish words

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New Finnish words typically look or sound like words in other languages. They perhaps most commonly seem to resemble English words. These words double their last vowel before adding the -n suffix.

Table for the list of illative locative case conjugation examples for when conjugating new Finnish words
Word	Conjugation
Pankki	Pankkiin
Bussi	Bussiin
Kahvi	Kahviin

Old Finnish words

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Old Finnish words that end in -i change to -e before adding the -en suffix.

Table for the list of illative locative case conjugation examples for when conjugating old Finnish words that end in -i
Word	Conjugation
Suomi	Suomeen
Järvi	Järveen
Kivi	Kiveen

Old Finnish words ending in -si

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Old Finnish words that end in -si change to -te before adding the -en suffix.

Table for the list of illative locative case conjugation examples for when conjugating old Finnish words that end in -si
Word	Conjugation
Uusi	Uuteen
Kuukausi	Kuukauteen
Vuosi	Vuoteen