Phrase guide

instructive case

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

noun case used to indicate means. It answers the question "how?", and in English, this is usually expressed by the prepositional phrase by means of, as in "by means of the house". Languages that use the instructive case include Finnish and (rarely) Estonian.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: grammar, human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

14 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: instructiu — case used to indicate means
  • Estonian: viisiütlev — case used to indicate means
  • Estonian: instruktiiv — case used to indicate means
  • Finnish: instruktiivi — case used to indicate means
  • Finnish: keinonto — case used to indicate means
  • French: instructif — case used to indicate means
  • German: Instruktiv — case used to indicate means
  • Icelandic: tækisfall — case used to indicate means
  • Latvian: instruktīvs — case used to indicate means
  • Livonian: instruktīv — case used to indicate means
  • Portuguese: instrutivo — case used to indicate means
  • Russian: инструкти́в (instruktív) — case used to indicate means
  • Spanish: caso instructivo — case used to indicate means
  • Swedish: instruktiv — case used to indicate means