1. Nouns

1.4. Locative cases

To express location and direction in Finnish language, you need local cases. Altogether, there are six local cases in Finnish language.
When choosing a local case ending you need to consider two aspects.

  • Firstly, you need to figure out the direction of the movement:
    is it static being in somewhere, movement from somewhere or movement to somewhere?
  • Secondly, you need to look at the location in question: is it inside of a place or on top of a place? Is it a closed or open space?
    Are we inside the place or close by it?

Depending on the movement the endings come in the series of three. According to the place in question the local cases are divided into two groups.



in, inside, indoors
on, outside, outdoors
Minne/Mihin? Where to?
talo-on (in)to the housetori-lle (on)to the market
Missä? Where in/on?
talo-ssa in the housetori-lla at the market
Mistä? Where from?
talo-sta from the housetori-lta from the market


The correct choice of the ending Minne/Mihin? Where to? depends on how the word ends.
1. vowel+-n after one vowel:
kauppa - kauppaan shop - to the shop
yliopisto - yliopistoon university - to the university
koulu - kouluun school - to the school
2. -hVn after two vowels (in short words):
maa - maahan country - to the country (cross the country border)
suu - suuhun mouth - (in)to the mouth
töihin to work. 
Note that there is the same vowel before and after h.
3. -seen after two same vowels (in longer words) :
Espoo - Espooseen Espoo - to Espoo (cross the city limits)
Lontoo - Lontooseen London - to London