Grammar: Allative - outer local cases

The Allative talks about moving toward or onto something.

Previously we covered the so-called “inner local cases”, which describe the relationships with volumes.

Having to specify them as “inner” local cases implies that there must be “outer” local cases as well.

And there are!

They also conveniently form a group of three:

• the “allative” (Estonian: “alaleütlev” - “onto-saying”): movement onto the top of or toward a surface,

• the “adessive” (Estonian: “alalütlev” - “on-saying”): static position on top of or next to a surface,

• the “ablative” (Estonian: “alaltütlev” - “from-the-top-of-saying”): movement from the top of or away from a surface

They are called “outer local cases” because they talk about the “outsides” of something.

In this article, we’re taking a detailed look at the Allative case 👇