Adessive case

In Uralic languages, such as Finnish, Estonian and Hungarian, the adessive case (abbreviated ADE; from Latin adesse "to be present") is the fourth of the locative cases with the basic meaning of "on". For example, Estonian laud (table) and laual (on the table), Hungarian asztal and asztalnál (at the table). It is also used as an instrumental case in Finnish.

In Finnish, the suffix is -lla/-llä, e.g. pöytä (table) and pöydällä (on the table). In addition, it can specify "being around the place", as in koululla (at the school including the schoolyard), as contrasted with the inessive koulussa (in the school, inside the building).

In Estonian, the ending -l is added to the genitive case, e.g. laud (table) - laual (on the table). Besides the meaning "on", this case is also used to indicate ownership. For example, "mehel on auto" means "the man owns a car".

As the Uralic languages don't possess the verb "to have", it is the subject in the adessive case + on (for example, minulla on, "I have", literally "at me is").

Look up adessive case in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

The other locative cases in Finnish, Estonian and Hungarian are:

Finnish

The Finnish adessive has the word ending -lla or -llä (according to the rules of vowel harmony). It is usually added to nouns and associated adjectives.

It is used in the following ways.

Possible English meanings of on, on top of, atop
kynä on pöydällä the pen is on the table
This is the Finnish way to express the English verb to have
Meillä on koira we have a dog ('on our (possession, responsibility, etc.) is dog')
Possible English meanings of with, by, using
Hän meni Helsinkiin junalla he went to Helsinki by train
Hän osti sen eurolla he bought it for a euro
Possible English meanings of during in over
aamulla in the morning keväällä in the spring
Possible English meaning of at
poikani on koululla my son is at school (c.f. inessive case: poikani on koulussa my son is inside the school)
hän on ruokatunnilla he is at lunch - literally on the lunch hour
(Although not strictly a use of the adessive this proximity difference is mirrored in adverbial forms such as täällä - around here and tässä - right here)
Janne oli huonolla tuulella Janne was in a bad mood
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