postpositions
Postpositions, as well as few prepositions are an integral part of the Finnish language. It is important to remember that prepositions in English are often cases in Finnish, for example, in --> -ssa. Postpositions used to express location are divided into three groups, similar to the locative cases, depending on what sort of question they answer: missä, mihin or mistä. The first group expresses being in some place, the second going to some place and the third coming from some place. It is important to remember what case a particular preposition or postposition will take; a great deal of them use the genitive, but not all. The genitive case is quite logical, if you think that a location has a name and the location belongs to the noun it refers to, for example, vieri means an adjacent space. So it makes sense to say
Koira on tuolin vieressä. The dog is next to the chair.
And then the postpositions as locations follow the pattern of locative cases.
vieressä, viereen, vierestä - next to
Vauva nukkuu äidin vieressä. The baby sleeps next to the mother.
Hän menee äidin viereen. He goes (to stand/sit/etc.) next to the mother.
Hän tulee äidin vierestä. He comes away from the side of the mother.
lähellä, lähelle, läheltä - near, close to
Pankki on aseman lähellä. The bank is near the station. Lähi means proximity.
Tämä bussi menee teatterin lähelle. This bus will go near the theoter.
Hän menee naisen lähelle. He goes close to the woman.
Hän tulee patsaan läheltä. He is moving away from the vicinity of the statue.
takana, taakse, takaa - behind
Ville on Leenan takana. Ville is behind Leena.
Ville menee Leenan taakse. Ville goes behind Leena.
Ville tulee Leenan takaa. Ville comes from behind Leena.
edessä, eteen, edestä - in front of
Auto on koulun edessä. The car is in front of the school.
Auto menee koulun eteen. The car goes to the frontside of the school.
Bussi lähtee koulun edestä. The bus leaves from the frontside of the school.
Genitive with postpositions
Intermediate & Advanced
Location, movement, cause and effect, time, etc.