Erillaisilla

Erillaisilla is the plural adessive form of the Finnish adjective erilainen, meaning “different” or “various.” It is used to modify a plural noun in the adessive case and can be translated roughly as “in different [ways],” or “on different [ones].” Common collocations include phrases such as erillaisilla tavoilla (in different ways) and erillaisilla ihmisillä (among different people).

Morphology and usage

Erillaisilla is formed from the stem erilais-, with the adessive plural suffix -illa. The form accompanies a plural noun in the adessive case, for example: erillaisilla tavoilla, erillaisilla ryhmillä. As a modifier, erillaisilla signals variety or diversity among the entities described by the noun.

Typical contexts

The expression is frequently used in descriptive or analytical Finnish to emphasize differences across categories, methods, opinions, or groups. Examples include: Erilaisilla tavoilla voidaan lähestyä ongelmaa (One can approach the problem in different ways) and Erilaisilla kokemuksilla on vaikutusta päätöksentekoon (Different experiences influence decision-making).

Relation to related forms

Erillaisilla derives from the adjective erilainen. Other forms include nominative plural erilaiset, genitive/partitive forms such as erilaisten and erilaista, and the singular adessive erilaisella for a single entity. The word is standard Finnish and commonly found in both spoken and written language.

See also

erilainen, erilaisten, erilaista, erilaista, erilaissuus (diversity)