Vierailla

Vierailla is a Finnish verb meaning to visit, to pay a visit to a person or a place, typically in the role of a guest. It is used for visiting friends or relatives, visiting places of interest, or visiting someone at their home or workplace.

Usage and typical contexts include visiting family or friends at their home, visiting a city or attraction as a tourist, or visiting someone in a hospital or other institution. The verb often conveys a social purpose and implies some contact with the person or place being visited. It can also appear in phrases describing arranging or planning a visit, or describing ongoing or completed visits.

Grammar and forms: Infinitive vierailla. Present tense forms include minä vierailen, sinä vierailet, hän vierailee, me vierailemme, te vierailette, he vierailvat. Past tense forms are vierailin, vierailit, vieraili, vierailimme, vierailitte, vierailivat. The noun related to the act is vierailu, and a person who visits is a vierailija. These forms illustrate regular Finnish verb conjugation patterns for this class of verbs.

Etymology and nuance: The word stems from vieras, meaning guest, and conveys the social dimension of visiting someone. In everyday language, vierailla is often preferred over more general verbs like käydä when the emphasis is on social contact during a visit. A common colloquial alternative for visiting someone is kylässä, as in “käydä kylässä.”

See also: verv forms and related terms include vierailu (visit) and vierailija (visitor). The verb is widely used in personal communication, travel writing, and hospitality contexts, reflecting its central role in social interaction in Finnish.