Kylmemmillä

Kylmemmillä is a Finnish grammatical form that derives from the adjective kylmä (cold) in its comparative degree kylmempi. In Finnish, adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in number and case. When the modified noun is plural and in the adessive case, the adjective takes the adessive plural ending -illä, yielding forms such as kylmemmillä. The form kylmemmillä therefore marks a plural noun in the adessive case with the comparative degree: roughly “the colder ones” or idiomatically “in colder conditions.”

Usage and context

The form is primarily found in descriptive or comparative expressions that reference weather, environments, or other plural-noun conditioned settings. It is common in weather talk, travel writing and narrative prose where speakers want to contrast conditions with warmer ones. Typical collocations involve weather-related nouns such as kelit (weather conditions), säät (weathers/conditions), ilmat (conditions), or oloissa (in conditions), among others.

Examples

- Kävimme ulkona kylmemmillä keleillä. (We went outside in colder weather.)

- Kylmemmillä ilmoilla kannattaa pukeutua lämpimästi. (In colder conditions, one should dress warmly.)

Related notes

Kylmemmillä contrasts with the corresponding singular or positive forms, such as kylmällä (singular adessive) or kylmä (positive). It also relates to other degrees of comparison in Finnish adjectives, notably kylmempi (comparative) and kylmin (superlative). The exact form chosen depends on the noun’s number and case, illustrating Finnish’s rich system of adjective inflection.