esteissä

Esteissä is the inessive plural form of the Finnish noun este, meaning obstacle or barrier. The inessive case expresses location inside something; therefore esteissä translates roughly as “in obstacles” or “within obstacles.” It can be used literally to refer to physical obstacles on a course or path, or metaphorically to describe situations characterized by difficulties.

Morphology: The base form is este (singular obstacle). The plural nominative is esteet. The plural inessive is esteissä. The plural genitive is esteiden, and the plural elative is esteistä. The suffix -issä marks the inessive plural.

Usage: In everyday Finnish, esteissä is most often found in descriptive or literary contexts, especially when talking about obstacles in a course or in metaphorical obstacles in life. It is less common in ordinary conversation; speakers may instead use phrases like “esteiden keskellä” or other constructions depending on the intended meaning. The word is part of a broader system of Finnish case endings and shows how location and quantity interact with nouns.

See also: este (obstacle), esteiden (genitive plural), inessive case in Finnish grammar.