Appendix:Finnish adverbial cases

Some Finnish grammars define adverbial cases as a set of additional "noun cases". These cases are not applicable to every nominal (with possibly one exception) and forms of these cases are considered adverbs rather than case forms. This list mainly follows Suomen kielioppi by Panu Mäkinen.

Note that adverbial cases as a concept are not accepted by all grammars, and e.g. Iso suomen kielioppi does not mention the term.

Superessive

The superessive case is part of a third set of locative cases alongside the delative and sublative cases. It corresponds to the inessive or adessive cases, expressing presence at a static location, often nearby or alongside something else. Its ending is -alla. Only singular forms exist.

Some grammars consider tuolla, täällä and siellä to be superessive forms, but etymologically the former is indistinguishable from the adessive case form, while the latter two have a distinct -ka suffix, unlike widely accepted superessive adverbs like kaikkialla and muualla. Superessive adverbs can also be used with many verbs that take adverbials inflected in the inessive case.

Examples

etä- (“far, remote”) → etäällä (“far away”)
kaikki (“all”) → kaikkialla (“everywhere”)
seisoa (“to stand”) → seisaallaan (“standing”) (+ with a possessive suffix)
toinen (“other”) → toisaalla (“somewhere else”)

Delative

The delative case is part of a third set of locative cases alongside the superessive and sublative cases. It corresponds to the elative or ablative cases, expressing moving away from nearby or alongside something. Its ending is -alta. Only singular forms exist. Delative adverbs can also be used with many verbs that take adverbials inflected in the elative case.

Examples

etä- (“far, remote”) → etäältä (“from far away”)
kaikki (“all”) → kaikkialta (“from everywhere”)
kautta (“throughout”) → kauttaaltaan (“thoroughly”) (+ with a possessive suffix)
toinen (“other”) → toisaalta (“from somewhere else; on the other hand”)

Sublative

The sublative case is part of a third set of locative cases alongside the superessive and delative cases. It corresponds to the illative or allative cases, expressing moving towards nearby or alongside something. Its ending is -alle in most words, but -nne for others (usually ones with a monosyllabic stem, such as the common pronoun forms tänne, tuonne, sinne). Only singular forms exist. Sublative adverbs can also be used with many verbs that take adverbials inflected in the illative case.

Examples

etä- (“far, remote”) → etäälle (“(to) far away”)
kaikki (“all”) → kaikkialle (“(to) everywhere”)
toinen (“other”) → toisaalle (“(to) somewhere else”)
tämä (“this”) → tänne (“(to) here, hither”)

Lative

Lative adverbs express motion towards something. Finnish has a multitude of lative suffixes, the most common of which are -s, -i and -(k) (the last suffix has no visible spelling). Occasionally these forms are called the s-lative, i-lative and k-lative, respectively. At times the translative ending may serve a lative role, like in taakse. Only singular forms exist. Lative adverbs can also be used with many verbs that take adverbials inflected in the illative case.

Examples

ala- (“lower”) → alas (“down, downwards”), ali (“(to) under”)
irto- (“separate, loose, detached”) → irti (“off, loose”)
kauko- (kauka-) (“far”) → kauas (“(to) far (away)”)
luo- (“at (someone's place)”) → luo (“to (at, by), to someone's place”)
lähi- (“near”) → lähes (“nearly, almost”)
rikkoa (“to break”) → rikki (“broken”)
se (“that, it”) → siis (“therefore, so; as in; I mean”)
ylä- (“upper”) → ylös (“up, upwards”), yli (“(to) over”)

Locative

Locative adverbs express being in or at a static location. The locative ending is the same as the essive ending -na, since the essive case has developed from the original locative sense which is now only present in adverbs. Only singular forms exist. Locative adverbs can also be used with many verbs that take adverbials inflected in the inessive case.

Examples

kauko- (kauka-) (“far”) → kaukana (“far”)
koto (“home”) (dialectal) → kotona (“(at) home”) (standard)
syksy (“autumn, fall”) + comparative → syksympänä (“later in the autumn/fall”)
ylempi (“upper, further above”) → ylempänä (“further above”)

Separative

Separative adverbs express moving away from a location. The separative ending is the same as the partitive ending (usually of the form -a, -ta), since the partitive case has developed from the original separative sense which is now only present in adverbs. Only singular forms exist. Separative adverbs can also be used with many verbs that take adverbials inflected in the elative case.

Examples

alempi (“lower, further below”) → alempaa (“from further below”)
kauko- (kauka-) (“far”) → kaukaa (“from afar”)
koto (“home”) (dialectal) → kotoa (“from home”) (standard)
luo- (“at (someone's place)”) → luota (“from (at, by), from someone's place”)
ulko- (“outer”) → ulkoa (“from outside”)

Temporal

Temporal adverbs express points of time for when something happens. All temporal endings have developed from instructive plural endings and end in -oin. The most common ending is -lloin, but -kkoin, -nnoin and plain -oin are also found. Temporal adverbs are generally considered to all be in singular, although etymologically they are in the plural.

Examples

harva (“rare, seldom”) → harvoin (“rarely, seldom”)
hiljaa (“slowly, quietly”) → hiljakkoin (“recently”)
mikä (“what?”) → milloin (“when?”)
se (“it, that”) → silloin (“then”)

Causative

Causative adverbs express manner of doing. The ending is -ten. The plural causative form -iten is also used as a superlative adverb suffix (for which the more common suffix is -immin, but for some individual words -iten has become predominant, e.g. for eniten).

Examples

joku (“someone”) → jotenkuten (“somehow, in some way”)
muu (“other”) → muuten (“else, otherwise”)
pika- (“quick, express”) + superlative → pikimmiten (“as quickly as possible”)
tämä (“this”) → täten (“thus, in this manner; hereby”)

Multiplicative

Multiplicative adverbs express how many times something is done, and most multiplicative adverbs are derived from numerals. The case ending is -sti. Only singular forms exist. -sti is also used to derive adverbs of manner from adjectives, and these are sometimes considered multiplicative as well.

Examples

kolme (“three”) → kolmesti (“three times, thrice”)
kuusi (“six”) → kuudesti (“six times”)
usea (“many, multiple”) → useasti (“multiple times, many times”)

Distributive

Distributive adverbs express distribution or manner (especially in imitation). The case ending is -ttain. Distributive singular forms are rare, and most distributive forms are in the plural.

Examples

hetki (“moment”) → hetkittäin (“intermittently”)
kasa (“pile, heap”) → kasoittain (“(in) piles, heaps”)
maa (“country”) → maittain (“by country”)
osa (“part”) → osittain (“partly, partially”)
pitkä (“long”) → pitkittäin (“lengthwise”)
päivä (“day”) → päivittäin (“daily”)
sata (“hundred”) → sadoittain (“by the hundred”)
sivu (“page”) → sivuittain (“page by page”)
suomalainen (“Finn, Finnish”) → suomalaisittain (“in the Finnish way, as the Finns do”)
vähä (“few, little”) → vähittäin (“little by little”)

Temporal distributive

Temporal distributive adverbs generally express a repeating time reference for when something occurs, but are sometimes also used to express an origin or source for something. The case ending is -isin. Only plural forms exist.

Examples

ilta (“evening”) → iltaisin (“in the evenings”)
maanantai (“Monday”) → maanantaisin (“on Mondays”)
nyky- (“now, current times”) → nykyisin (“nowadays”)
talvi (“winter”) → talvisin (“during winters”)

Prolative

Prolative adverbs express motion through something or by something (as a medium). The case ending is -(i)tse (the -i- is etymologically an original part of the suffix, not the plural infix, but it is now often treated as a plural marker). Prolative singular forms are rare, and most prolative forms are in the plural.

The prolative case is generally more productive than other adverbial cases, and the case ending may even apply to attributes (pitkitse kirjeitse), which may be a sign of prolative being a full case (however, with most nominals it would be even more rare than the instructive case).

Examples

ala- (“under, below”) → alitse (“beneath, underneath; through the space below something”)
kirje (“letter (written message)”) → kirjeitse (“by letter”)
maa (“land”) → maitse (“overland”)
ohi (“past”) → ohitse (“past, passing by”)
vesitie (“waterway”) → vesiteitse (“by waterways”)

Situative

Situative adverbs express location next to something else, usually in a reciprocal fashion. The case ending is -kkain. Most forms are singular; plural forms are rare.

Examples

alle (“under”) → allekkain (“one below another”)
lähi- (“close, near”) → lähekkäin (“in close proximity”)
selkä (“back”) → seläkkäin (“back to back”)
sisä- (“inside”) → sisäkkäin (“inside one another, nested”)
vieri (“side”) → vierekkäin (“side by side, next to each other”)

Oppositive

Oppositive adverbs express location of two or more things facing against each other. The case ending is -tusten or -tuksin. Most forms are singular; plural forms are rare.

Examples

kasvot (“face”) → kasvotusten (“face to face”) (= kasvotuksin)
raja (“border”) → rajatusten (“bordering, adjoining”) (= rajatuksin)
seinä (“wall”) → seinätysten (“wall to wall”) (= seinätyksin)
silmä (“eye”) → silmätysten (“face to face, eye to eye”) (= silmätyksin)

Terminative

Terminative adverbs express movement up to a certain point. The different terminative case endings (all rare) are -nni and -li. Only singular forms exist.

Examples

mikä (“what?”) → mikäli (“if, provided that”)
se (“that, it”) → sikäli (“insofar”)
tyvi (“stem, base”) → tyynni (“wholly”, intensifier used after kaikki)