Nouns: Elative Case (out of / from) — Finnish Grammar

English marks origin with a preposition in front of the noun: out of the house, from Finland. Finnish marks it with an ending on the noun itself — is a house, is out of a house. The ending is -sta if the word contains a, o or u, and -stä if it does not.

It belongs to a set of six. Three of them treat a place as an interior — in the house, into the house, out of the house — and three treat it as a surface: on it, onto it, off it.

Movement Out Of

Tulen talosta.
I'm coming out of the house.

talo- house, -sta the "out of" ending
the internal trio on one word: talo-ssa in it, talo-on into it, talo-sta out of it

Otan rahaa lompakosta.
I take money out of the wallet.
Hän nousi sängystä.
He/she got out of bed.

Where Someone Is From

This is the ending for stating origin - which country or town you come from.

Olen Suomesta.
I'm from Finland.
Hän tulee Espanjasta.
He/she is from Spain.
Mistä sinä olet kotoisin?
Where are you from?

The Topic of Speech or Thought

Finnish uses this ending for what you talk, think, or read "about".

Puhumme säästä.
We're talking about the weather.
Kerro minulle matkastasi.
Tell me about your trip.

Liking Something

A very common and useful pattern: the verb (to like) takes its object in this case - you literally "like from" something.

Pidän kahvista.
I like coffee.
Pidätkö musiikista?
Do you like music?

What Something Is Made Of

The same ending also names the material.

Pöytä on tehty puusta.
The table is made of wood.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Finnish course

34 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 8. A few of them, with the words “Nouns: Elative Case (out of / from)” is about in bold:

Miltä sinusta tuntuu? Hyvältä vai huonolta?
How are you feeling? Good or bad?
Lesson 61
Olet hauska. Mielestäni olet hauska.
You are funny. I think you are funny.
Lesson 169
Heinäkuussa joesta tulee todella lämmin.
In July, the river becomes very warm.
Lesson 409

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