The allative case is one of the 6 Finnish location cases. If you’re looking for an overview about missä, mistä and mihin, look here.

1. Use of the Allative Case (Mille)

1.1. Like -lla, but for Going TO Something

When the missä-form ends in -lla, then you can be pretty sure the mihin-form will end in –lle. So if you’re at the kiosk (-lla), you will also go to the kiosk (-lle).

1.2. When Using Certain Verbs

Finnish has this concept of “rections”: most words will require other words that they get combined with to appear in a certain case. There are several verbs that require -lle.

• You can learn more about rections in general here.
• You can learn more about rections that answer the question kenelle here.

1.3. Adjectives + Noun in the –lle form

Some adjectives also have a mille rection. Below, you can find a couple of examples, but there are plenty more in the article about adjective rections. Knowing English won’t help you at all in this situation, as you can see from the translations of the examples.

2. The Formation of the Allative Case

The allative is one of the six location cases. Its ending -lle gets added to the same form as most of the other locations cases (-ssa, -sta, -lla, -lta)

2.1. Words ending in a vowel (-a/-ä, -u/-y, -o/-ö): add -lle

This is also true for some words ending in -i and all words ending in -e. See below!

2.2. Words ending in -e: add an extra -e- before the -lle

Words ending in -e get a second -e- in any case except the partitive. Words ending in -e belong to wordtype B, which means their basic form will be weak (e.g. parveke, koe) and their allative strong (e.g. parvekkeelle, kokeelle).

2.3. Words ending in -i

You can read more about the difference between the different kinds of words ending in -i here.

2.3.1. New words ending in -i: add -lle

New words are often loanwords. Usually they’re recognisable because they resemble words in other languages, like pankki for “bank”, or paperi for “paper”. Loanwords are easier than Finnish words because they don’t undergo as many changes when you add endings.

2.3.2. Old words ending in -i: replace -i- with -e- and add -lle

Old words are very often nature words. After all, nature has been around for so long that Finns have had names for nature words since the very beginning. Some words’ age can be confusing, for example äiti (mother) is actually a fairly new Finnish word, even though mothers have been around since the beginning of time!

This section combines words belonging to the OVI-type (1) and the PIENI-type (2) into one because these types undergo the exact same change when inflected in the illative case.

2.3.3. Old words ending in -si: replace -si- with -de- and add -lle

More old words, but this time with -si at their end. This group has its own additional change: the -si will turn into -de-.

I have a more extensive list of words that belong to this type here.

2.4. Words ending in a consonant

2.4.1. Words ending in -nen: replace the -nen with -se before the -lle

This is the same change that -nen words go through when used in any case except the partitive.

2.4.2. Words ending in -as: replace -as with -aa- + -lle

Words ending in -as (or –äs, depending on vowel harmony rules) belong to wordtype B, so they will have the weak grade in their basic form (e.g. rakas, opas) and the strong grade in the ablative (e.g. rakkaalta, oppaalta). Read more about words ending in -as here.

2.4.3. Words ending in -is: two groups

For words ending in -is, we have two groups: words like kallis that get -ii- when inflected, and words like roskis which get -ikse- when inflected.

2.4.4. Words ending in -os/-ös: replace –os with –okse– and add –lle

Words ending in -os and –ös will respectively get -okse- and –ökse– when inflected.

2.4.5. Words ending in -us/-ys: two groups

Words ending in –us can belong to two groups: some get -ukse-, others get -ude- before the allative’s -lle. This depends on whether the word is derived from an adjective (e.g. pimeä > pimeys) or not. Words which have been derived from an adjective get –ude-, while other words get –ukse-. You will want to check out this article to get the specifics.

Some general guidelines:

• If the word is based on a verb (such as opettaa > opetus), it will generally get –ukse-.
• If the word is based on an adjective (such as pimeä > pimeys), it will get –ude-.
• If the word is based on a noun (such as ystävä > ystävyys), it will get –ude-.
• If the word ends in –uus/yys (double vowel), you will get –ude-.

2.4.6. Words ending in -ton: replace -ton with -ttoma- + -lle

Read more about words ending in -ton here.

2.4.7. Words ending in -in: replace -in with -ime- + -lle

Read more about words ending in -in here.

2.4.8. Words ending in -ut: two groups

Words that end in -ut/yt can belong to two wordtypes. The smallest group of the two contains words such as olut, kevyt and lyhyt. For these words, you will replace the final -t with an –e- before the allative’s case ending.

The much larger group is made up of NUT-participles such as väsynyt and tottunut. For these words, you will replace the -ut/yt with -ee- before the allative’s case ending.

2.4.9. Words ending in -tar

Words ending in -tar are rare, but at least tytär (daughter) is a common word. In the mille-case, these words get -ttare- in place of the basic form’s -tar.

2.4.10. Non-Finnish words ending in a consonant

Loanwords and foreign names (e.g. Jonathan, Facebook) which end in a consonant will have an extra -i- added before the allative’s -lle.

3. Consonant Gradation in the Allative Case

I have a separate article on wordtype A.

I have a separate article on wordtype B.

That concludes the article on the allative case!

Related posts:

The Ablative Case (Miltä) – Finnish Grammar The Inflection of Postpositions – Finnish Grammar Adverbs of Location: Täällä, Kaikkialla, Ylhäällä Finnish Comparative Forms – Vertailuasteet