Veteissä

Veteissä is a Finnish term that literally means “in the waters.” It is formed from the noun vesi (water) with the inessive plural ending -issä, used to indicate location within bodies of water. In standard Finnish the normal inessive plural form for vesi is vesissä, so vesissä is the common form in contemporary usage, while veteissä is generally considered nonstandard.

Origins and status: Veteissä is not listed as a separate, widely accepted standard form in major Finnish dictionaries. It is typically viewed as a nonstandard variant, which may appear in dialectal speech, regional writing, historical texts, or as a mistaken spelling in edited prose. Some texts may reproduce it to convey a particular voice or vernacular, but it is not the norm in formal writing.

Usage and context: In most modern contexts, speakers and writers would use vesissä when referring to being in multiple waters or in waters collectively. Veteissä may appear in quoted speech to reflect a character’s dialect, in older or regional texts, or as a spelling error in otherwise standard prose. For learners and editors, the recommended standard form is vesissä, with veteissä treated as a nonstandard variant to be avoided in formal writing.

See also: Vesi; Vesistö; Inessive case; Finnish grammar.