Distributive case

{{Short description|Grammatical case}}

{{Refimprove|date=April 2015}}

The distributive case (abbreviated {{sc|distr}}) is used on nouns for the meanings of 'per' or 'each.'

In Hungarian it is {{lang|hu|-nként}} and expresses the manner when something happens to each member of a set one by one (e.g., {{lang|hu|fejenként}} "per head", {{lang|hu|esetenként}} "in some case"), or the frequency in time ({{lang|hu|hetenként}} "once a week", {{lang|hu|tízpercenként}} "every ten minutes").

In the Finnish language, this adverb type is rare, even rarer in the singular. Its ending is {{lang|fi|-ttain/-ttäin}}.{{cite web|last1=Mäkinen|first1=Panu|title=Finnish Grammar - Adverbial Cases|url=http://users.jyu.fi/~pamakine/kieli/suomi/sijat/sijatadverbien.html|website=users.jyu.fi|publisher=University of Jyväskylä|access-date=6 March 2015}} The basic meaning is "separately for each". For example, {{lang|fi|maa}} ("country") becomes {{lang|fi|maittain}} for an expression like {{lang|fi|Laki ratifioidaan maittain}} ("The law is ratified separately in each country"). It can be used to distribute the action to frequent points in time, e.g., {{lang|fi|päivä}} (day) has the plural distributive {{lang|fi|päivittäin}} (each day).

It can mean also "in (or with) regard to the (cultural) perspective" when combined with a word referring to an inhabitant ({{lang|fi|-lais-}}). Frequently Finns ({{lang|fi|suomalaiset}}) say that {{lang|fi|suomalaisittain tuntuu oudolta, että ...}}, or "in the Finnish perspective, it feels strange that ...".