Tietyillä

Tietyillä is the plural adessive form of the Finnish adjective tietty, meaning “certain” or “particular.” It is used to describe plural nouns when indicating that a specific subset exists within a larger group, without specifying all of them. For example, in English a phrase like “in certain areas” is rendered in Finnish as “tietyillä alueilla.”

Morphology and grammar: Finnish adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in both number and case. Tietyillä corresponds to plural nouns in the adessive case (-lla/-illä), which in Finnish often corresponds to English “on” or “at” in phrases indicating location or state. The corresponding singular form is tietyllä, and the genitive plural is tiettyjen, illustrating how the stem tietty changes across cases.

Usage and nuance: Tietyllä/ tietyillä is used when the speaker wants to emphasize that a definite but unspecified subset is being referred to. It is commonly contrasted with words like jotkut (some) or tietyt (certain ones) in contexts where emphasis falls on a subset rather than on all items. The choice between tietty, tietyt, and jotkut can subtly shift focus from general to more definite or selective groups.

Examples:

- Tietyillä alueilla on paljon kahviloita. (In certain areas there are many cafes.)

- Tietyillä ihmisillä on paljon kokemusta. (Certain people have a lot of experience.)

- Tietyillä tavoilla tämä ongelma ratkaistaan. (In certain ways this problem is solved.)

- Tietyillä ehdoilla sopimus on voimassa. (The contract is valid under certain conditions.)

See also: tietty, tietyt, jotkut.