Leireillä

Leireillä is a Finnish word meaning “in camps” and serves as the inessive plural form of leiri, which means camp. Leiri can refer to a variety of camp types, including youth camps, scout camps, summer camps, sport or language camps, as well as longer-term camps such as refugee camps or labor camps, depending on the context. The form leireillä is produced by adding the inessive plural suffix to the stem leiri, indicating location or presence at multiple camps.

Usage of leireillä centers on describing where people or activities take place. It is commonly used when talking about groups that spend time at more than one camp or about camps in general. Examples: Nuoret ovat leireillä. (The youths are at camps.) Pakolaisleireillä asuvat ihmiset tarvitsevat tukea. (People living in refugee camps need support.) The word can appear in news, travel writing, education, and discussions about organized outdoor activities.

Grammatical note: leireillä is the plural form of the inessive case, used with plural subjects or with generic references to camps. It contrasts with leirillä (in a camp) in the singular form. Finnish locative cases routinely mark location, and leireillä exemplifies how the language expresses spatial relations for plural nouns. For learners, recognizing leireillä alongside related forms such as leiri (singular nominative) and leirillä (singular inessive) helps with understanding Finnish camp-related vocabulary and plural location phrases.