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Use the prolative case suffix **-tse** to express the route taken or the medium used for communication. It answers the question "by what way?" or "via what?" and often translates to English as "by" or "via".

### Forming the Prolative Case

Add the suffix **-tse** to the noun. It is typically attached to the noun's plural stem, meaning you will often see the plural marker **-i-** right before the ending, even if the meaning is strictly singular.

For example, *puhelin* (phone) uses its plural stem *puhelimi-* to become *puhelimitse* (by phone), and *kirje* (letter) becomes *kirjeitse* (by letter). Some words, like *sähköposti* (email), attach the suffix directly to the singular stem to become *sähköpostitse*.

### Communication Mediums

This case is highly common when discussing how information is delivered, especially in customer service or official contexts.

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### Physical Shipping Routes

You will also use **-tse** to describe physical travel or shipping routes. When attached to terrain types like *maa* (land) and *meri* (sea), the plural stems are *mai-* and *meri-*, giving you *maitse* (by land) and *meritse* (by sea).

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### Customer Service and Official Contexts

The prolative is particularly useful for formal instructions, requests, or complaints. It pairs well with conditional statements and professional correspondence.

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Routes and mediums (-tse)

adjective

adposition

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

postposition

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Demonstrative pronouns (tämä, tuo, se)

Singular personal pronouns (minä, sinä, hän)

Plural personal pronouns (me, te, he)

Plural demonstratives (nämä, nuo, ne)

Coordinating conjunctions (ja, mutta, tai)

Yes/no questions (-ko / -kö)

Basic question words (kuka, mikä, missä)

Negation of to be (en ole, ei ole)

The inessive case (-ssa / -ssä)

Double consonant gradation (kk, pp, tt)

Consonant gradation (-ssa/-ssä)

Verb Type 1 (puhun, puhut, puhuu)

Verb Type 1 with consonant gradation

Negative verbs (en puhu, et lue)

External location (-lla/-llä)

There is / there are (kaupungissa on)

Possession (minulla on)

Numbers 1 to 10 (yksi, kaksi, kolme)

The partitive singular (-a/-ä, -ta/-tä)

Quantities with numbers (kaksi autoa)

Negative possession (ei ole)

Numbers 11 to 100 and 1000

Partitive verbs

Partitive personal pronouns (minua, sinua)

Verb Type 2 (-da/-dä)

Partitive for mass nouns (-a/-ä, -ta/-tä)

Partitive for negative objects

Adjective agreement

Verb Type 3

The elative case (-sta/-stä)

Negative possession (minulla ei ole…)

The illative case (-Vn, -hVn, -seen)

Numbers 21 to 99

Static vs. movement verbs

Verb Type 4 (-Vta / -Vtä)

Verb Type 5 (-ita / -itä)

Genitive singular for possession (-n)

Total object (-n)

Accusative personal pronouns (-t)

Obligation (täytyy)

Into places (-Vn, -hVn, -seen)

Postpositions with the genitive

My and your (-ni, -si)

Onto and to someone (-lle)

From someone or somewhere (-lta, -ltä)

Telling time (kello on...)

Months of the year (-ssa, -ssä)

Days of the week (-na, -nä)

When and why (milloin, miksi)

The illative case (mihin, -Vn, -hVn, -seen)

Past tense of to be (olin, olit, oli)

The seasons (kevät, kesä, syksy, talvi)

The imperative mood (lue!, syö!, mene!)

The past tense of to be (olin, oli)

The illative case (-hVn, -seen)

Greetings and goodbyes (hei, näkemiin)

Thank you and sorry (kiitos, anteeksi)

Liking things (pitää / tykätä + -sta/-stä)

Temporary states and roles (-na/-nä)

Change of state (-ksi)

Ongoing actions (-massa/-mässä)

Going to do an action (-maan/-mään)

Returning from an action (-masta/-mästä)

Third-person possessives (-nsa/-nsä or -Vn)

Plural possessives (-mme, -nne)

Indefinite pronouns (joku, jokin, kaikki)

Negative indefinite pronouns (ei kukaan, ei mikään)

Commands for verb types 4 and 5

Adverb formation (-sti)

Past tense for verb type 1 (-i-)

Past tense vowel changes for verb type 1 (-o- / -i-)

Past tense for verb type 2 (-i-)

Past tense for verb type 3 (-i-)

Past tense for verb type 4 (-si-)

Past tense for verb type 5 (-itsi-)

Past tense consonant gradation

Past participles for verb types 1 and 2 (-nut / -nyt)

Past participle singular for verb types 3-5 (-nnut, -llut)

Active past participle plural (-neet)

Past tense negative (en mennyt, emme olleet)

The perfect tense (olen ollut)

The perfect tense negative (en ole nähnyt)

Total plural objects (-t)

Partitive plural (-ia / -iä)

Partitive plural (-ja / -jä)

Question	Answer
the tracking code	seurantakoodi
We sent the tracking code by email.	Lähetimme seurantakoodin sähköpostitse.
the customer service	asiakaspalvelu
The customer service is easy to reach by phone.	Asiakaspalvelu on helppo tavoittaa puhelimitse.
the express delivery	pikalähetys
the delivery time	toimitusaika
land	maa
Is the delivery time for express delivery shorter by sea or by land?	Onko pikalähetyksen toimitusaika lyhyempi meritse vai maitse?
the complaint (commercial, about a product)	reklamaatio
I do not know anything about the complaint, because he sent it by letter.	En tiedä reklamaatiosta mitään, koska hän lähetti sen kirjeitse.
I have not received the tracking code, so I will ask by phone.	Mä en oo saanu seurantakoodia, joten mä kysyn puhelimitse.
to get damaged	vaurioitua
the return (of an item)	palautus
If the package gets damaged, you can request a return by email.	Jos paketti vaurioituu, voit pyytää palautusta sähköpostitse.
the refund	hyvitys
the contact	yhteydenotto
You can request a refund by letter after contact.	Voit pyytää hyvitystä kirjeitse yhteydenoton jälkeen.
We send the return in a larger package by land.	Lähetämme palautuksen isommassa paketissa maitse.
the shipping cost	postikulu
Customer service handles shipping costs by phone.	Asiakaspalvelu hoitaa postikulut puhelimitse.
The product got damaged, but I received the refund by letter.	Tuote vaurioitui, mutta sain hyvityksen kirjeitse.
He replied to the message by email.	Hän vastasi viestiin sähköpostitse.
We are making a complaint about the delivery time by email.	Teemme reklamaation toimitusajasta sähköpostitse.
I requested express delivery from customer service by email, because the shipping costs are low.	Pyysin asiakaspalvelulta pikalähetystä sähköpostitse, koska postikulut ovat pienet.
We request contact by email.	”Pyydämme yhteydenottoa sähköpostitse.”
to go along, to run (of a route or vehicle)	kulkea
The bus runs between the centre and the station.	Bussi kulkee keskustan ja aseman välillä.
News travels fast on the internet.	Uutiset kulkevat nopeasti netissä.
to get in touch, to contact	ottaa yhteyttä
The customer gets in touch with customer service.	Asiakas ottaa yhteyttä asiakaspalveluun.
I will contact the doctor tomorrow.	Otan yhteyttä lääkäriin huomenna.

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