Location case verb rections are rections that require their complement to be in one of the location cases (missä, mistä, mihin). There are many different kinds of rections, but the location case verb rections are usually the first to be taught.

1. What are rections?

“Verb rections” is the term used for when certain verbs demand the usage of a certain case for words connected to it. This does exist in English at some level, but I’ve never heard the term “rection” in regards of English.

An example in English:
to look at,
to look for,
to look in,
to look out for,
to look out and
to look like.

While Finnish rections are much like what I listed above, Finnish uses suffixes to express the English prepositions (-ssa instead of “in”). Note: the English translations hereunder are often a bit wonky. This is done on purpose to ensure that you understand the Finnish sentence construction.

Something else to understand is that — while I put these verbs in this list — that doesn’t mean this is 100% the only way to use them. For example, the verb “kertoa” can be used both with -lle and -sta. In fact, you can use both of them in the same sentence: “Minä kerron sinulle (to you) kissasta (about the cat).”, “I tell you about my cat.” There are many verbs like that which can have multiple rections. In addition, sometimes the same meaning can be covered with two verbs. “Hän haisee pahalle” and “Hän haisee pahalta” are both allowed, but both mean “He smells bad”.

The form I’m using in these sentences is the most common one. My approach is that it’s better to have some idea of these to start with, and complete your knowledge later. I find that preferable over having to work your way through all the theory and options that are possible.

Now let’s take a look at some location case verb rections!

2. Rections that answer to the question “mistä”

2.1. Rections with only -sta

You can read more about the -sta/-stä form on the page about the elative.

Many of the phrases in English where you would use “about” (eg. talk, chat, worry about something) will have -sta in Finnish. This is not a definite rule, but a fairly common occurrence. These location case verb rections are fairly basic.

2.2. Rections with both -sta and -lta

Verbs that allow both -sta (elative) and -lta (ablative) are verbs that give the answer to the question “mistä”. The possibility of having either -sta or -lta is dependent on the word we’re using to answer the question mistä. For example, buying food from the store would be “kaupasta”, but buying food from the market place would be “torilta”. This is due to the fact that tori will always have -lla, -lta and -lle (rule 1.1 on this page).

3. Rections that answer to the question “mihin”

3.1. Rections with only the illative

The illative answers the question “mihin“, but its uses are pretty different than in English. Many of these are just cases when you have to learn the location case verb rections without translating too much. You will see that when you look at the straight translations. Most of those just don’t make sense in English.

3.2. Rections with both illative and -lle

Verbs that allow both the illative and -lle (allative) are verbs that give the answer to the question “mihin”.

The possibility of having either of these two cases is dependent on the word we’re using to answer the question mihin. You will need to learn these by heart because they are very different form English.

4. Rections that answer to the question “missä”

Next is the group of location case verb rections that only have one rection: -ssa (aka the inessive).

5. Rections that answer to the question “miltä”

The most common group of verbs that require the word attached to them to appear in the -lta form are perceptional verbs (aistiverbit, aistimusverbit, vaikutelmaverbit) come with both -lta/ltä (the ablative) or -lle (the allative). Most Finns seem to recognize a small difference in meaning between the two, but aren’t able to explain it very well. As a non-native speaker, I stick to –lta in all situations, even though both are possible. I have a whole separate article on these perceptional verbs.

In addition, there is a small group of verbs that express being protected or avoiding something, which require the -lta form. Last but not least, there are very common verbs that answer the question kenelle. I have a separate article on rections with kenelle, kenellä and keneltä.

These are not all the location case verb rections that exist, but they are the most common ones. Good luck in your studies!