ensimmäisiltä

Ensimmäisiltä is a Finnish word that functions as the genitive plural or partitive plural of the ordinal number "ensimmäinen" which means "first". Therefore, "ensimmäisiltä" translates to "from the first ones" or "of the first ones" depending on the grammatical context.

In Finnish grammar, the genitive case is often used to indicate possession or a relationship between nouns, while the partitive case can denote an indefinite quantity, a part of something, or be used with certain verbs and prepositions. When used with ordinal numbers like "ensimmäinen", these cases extend the meaning to refer to a group of individuals or items that are in the "first" position.

For example, in a sentence like "Tervehdys ensimmäisiltä riviltä" (Greetings from the first rows), "ensimmäisiltä" is in the ablative case, which is a subtype of the partitive, indicating origin or separation. If one were to say "ensimmäisiltä paikoilta" (from the first places), it would also be a partitive form.

Understanding the nuances of Finnish case endings is crucial for correct interpretation. "Ensimmäisiltä" specifically signifies a plural entity or entities that hold the primary or initial position in a sequence, and the grammatical case denotes the function of that group within the sentence, such as being the source of something or belonging to them.