Viileällä

Viileällä is the adessive singular form of the Finnish adjective viileä, meaning cool, chilly, or fresh. It is used in connection with a noun in the adessive case to express a state or condition of that noun, often referring to weather, atmosphere, or air. Typical phrases include viileällä ilmalla (in cool air) and viileällä säällä (in cool weather). In these constructions viileällä does not function as a standalone adverb; instead it modifies a noun within a prepositional-like phrase that describes the surrounding conditions.

Usage and meaning

Viileällä conveys that the relevant noun is in a cool or refreshing state. The expression is common in everyday Finnish when discussing temperature, outdoor conditions, or environments. For example, viileällä ilmalla voi olla raikas feel, tai viileällä säällä kannattaa pukeutua lämpimästi. The form is flexible across contexts where a noun is described as cool or cooler than typical conditions.

Grammar and variants

As with other adjectives in Finnish, viileä declines to match the case and number of the noun it describes. In the adessive (on/at), the form is viileällä, as in viileällä ilmalla. Other related forms occur for different cases, but viileällä specifically marks the adessive state of the noun it accompanies.

Etymology

Viileä comes from Finnish roots meaning cool or chilly. The word is used in modern Finnish with standard inflection patterns, and viileällä is the corresponding adessive form when paired with a noun.

See also

viileä, ilma, sää, suomen kieltäytyminen.