Ablative

The ablative suffix ltA

The suffix of the ablative is always lta or ltä, e.g. talo : talo|lta: taloi|lta, mies : miehe|ltä: mieh|i|ltä.

Meanings of the ablative

The ablative typically corresponds to the preposition “from” and indicates movement from somewhere or from the surface of something. Examples: Hän tuli Vantaalta (He came from Vantaa), Otin omenan pöydältä (I took an apple from the table). Such usage is described in section Locational cases.

The ablative also expresses transfering something from the possession of someone, as in Sain Jussilta omenan “I got an apple from Jussi”, as well as lack of possession. See Expressions for having something.

The ablative is also used to express the following relations:

• The person who is asked to give or do something, e.g. Pyysin Villeltä auton lainaksi (I asked Ville to lend me his car, literally “I asked from Ville car for loan”), Pyydän sinulta anteeksi (I ask you to forgive me). Such usage is a natural extension to the use of the ablative for expressing transfer of possession.
• The person who is successful or unsuccessful in doing something, e.g. Meiltähän tämä käy (We can well do it, literally “from us this goes”).
• The person who loses something, e.g. Minulta loppuivat rahat (I ran out of money), Häneltä meni taju (He lost consciousness). We also say Minulta murtui luu (I broke a bone), even though it does not refer to really losing a bone.
• The unit when specifying things like unit costs, cor­re­spond­ing to the preposition “per”, e.g. Tämä maksaa kolme euroa litralta (This costs three euros per liter).
• Clarification of the property being described, often cor­re­spond­ing to the preposition “by”, e.g. Hän on luonteeltaan ahkera (He is assiduous by his character), Ne ovat painoltaan yhtä suuret (They are equal by weight). In this context, the ablative appears with a possessive suffix.
• Cause that prevents something, e.g. Hän ei kiireiltään ehtinyt tulla (He did not have time to come, due to being so busy, literally “due to his hurries”). The word kiireiltään is ablative plural of kiire with a possessive suffix.
• Time in some contexts, as in Kokous alkaa yhdeksältä (The meeting starts at nine o’clock). See Expressions of time.
• The taste or feeling in the context of verbs like näyttää in the meaning “to look like”, e.g. Tämä näyttää hyvältä (This looks good). Especially for verbs like maistua in the meaning “to taste like”, the allative can alternatively be used, e.g. Tämä maistuu makealta ∼ makealle (This tastes sweet).
• The phrase type X X:ltä is used to indicate repetition, often suggesting regular repetition, e.g. vuosi vuodelta (year after year, every year), kerta kerralta (every time), askele askeleelta (step by step).