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Questions & Answers about Hän uskoo jumalaan.
Why is jumalaan in the illative ("into") case here instead of the inessive ("in") case?
In Finnish, the verb uskoa (to believe) requires the word you believe in to be in the illative case. While English says "believe in", Finnish conceptually says "believe into". You will also see this "into" case used with other verbs of feeling or focus, like rakastua (to fall in love) or luottaa (to trust).
This lesson is about että (that), so why isn't että used in this sentence?
You only use että when you are introducing a full subordinate clause (a mini-sentence with its own verb). For example, Hän uskoo, että jumala on olemassa (He believes that God exists). Because this sentence just connects the verb directly to a noun (God), you don't need että.
How is the ending for jumalaan formed?
The illative ending usually consists of lengthening the final vowel of the word and adding -n. The basic dictionary word is jumala, so we double the final a and add -n, which gives us jumalaan.
If I wanted to say "I believe you," would I also use the illative case?
No, and this is a really important distinction! If you mean "I believe what you are saying," the verb uskoa takes the partitive case: Minä uskon sinua (I believe you). You only use the illative case, Minä uskon sinuun, when you mean "I believe in you" (having faith in someone's potential).