Distributive-temporal case


The distributive-temporal case specifies when and how often something is done.

In English

The word '' is a Latin preposition which means "through" or "for each", as in per annum, meaning 'for each year'.

In Hungarian

This case in Hungarian can express how often something happens ; it can alternate with the Distributive case in words of temporal meaning.

In Finnish

This adverb type in Finnish can express that something happens at a frequent point in time, or an origin. It is restricted to a small number of adverb stems and nouns, mostly those with the plural formed with an -i- suffix. The ending is -sin.
For example, the root päivä has the plural päivi-, and thus the temporal distributive päivisin.
The temporal distributive case specifies when something is done, in contrast to the distributive case, which specifies how often something is done, as in regular maintenance. These sentences are a good example: Siivoan päivisin vs. Siivoan päivittäin. The former means "I clean by day", implying the cleaning is done in the daytime, whereas the latter means "I clean daily", implying that there's no day without cleaning.
If the plural has another form than -i-, either joka or the essive case is used. For example, uusi vuosi is either joka uusi vuosi or uusina vuosina, respectively.