ensimmäisillä

Ensimmäisillä is a Finnish adjective form used to refer to “the first (ones)” in the adessive plural. It is formed from the stem of ensimmäinen (meaning “first”) with the plural adessive ending -llä. In Finnish, adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in number and case, so ensimmäisillä appears with plural nouns in the adessive case, for example in expressions like “ensimmäisillä paikoilla” meaning “at the first places.”

Usage and function: ensimmäisillä is typically used to describe the position, order, or status of several items or people within a group in relation to a ranking or comparison. It is common in contexts such as sports reporting, competition results, or discussions about groups in events. The meaning conveyed is that the referenced items occupy the leading or top positions within a given set.

Examples: a typical construction is “Joukkueet ovat ensimmäisillä paikoilla sarjataulukossa,” which translates to “The teams are in the first places in the standings.” The phrase can also appear in other plural adessive contexts, such as referring to positions in a lineup or in rankings described in Finnish text.

Relation to other forms: ensimmäisillä is not a standalone noun but a specific inflected form of the adjective ensimmäinen. Other grammatical forms exist for different cases and numbers, such as nominative plural ensimmäiset or genitive ensimmäisten, each matching the noun it modifies. The overall meaning remains tied to the notion of “the first” or “top-ranked” in its grammatical context.

See also: Finnish adjectives, case inflection, Finnish grammar, adessive case.