Epäselvillä

Epäselvillä is a Finnish inflected form of the adjective epäselvä, meaning unclear or ambiguous. In Finnish, adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in number and case, so epäselvä takes the form epäselvillä when used with plural nouns in the adessive case. The word is most commonly found in formal or journalistic writing to describe grounds, terms, or conditions that are not clear.

As a grammatical form, epäselvillä is used to indicate that something exists or operates on the basis of unclear conditions. It often appears together with a plural noun in the adessive case, such as grounds, terms, or bases. Typical phrases include epäselvillä perusteilla (on unclear grounds) or epäselvillä ehdoilla (on unclear terms). This construction signals uncertainty about the criteria or justification underlying a decision, claim, or process.

Etymology and related forms: epäselvä is formed from epä- (not, non-) and selvä (clear). The corresponding noun for ambiguity is epäselvyys, while related terms include epävarmuus (uncertainty) and selvyys (clarity). The use of epäselvillä tends to appear in formal contexts such as legal, governmental, or analytical writing, where precision about justification is important.

See also: epäselvyys, epävarmuus, selvyys, epäselvä.

Notes: The form is specifically adessive plural; different cases or numbers require other inflected forms of epäselvä, such as epäselvät (nominative plural) or epäselvässä (in the singular inessive).