hevosella

Hevosella is the adessive singular form of the Finnish noun hevonen (horse). It generally means on a horse or by means of a horse. The form is used to indicate location on the animal or to express movement by horse as a vehicle. Like other Finnish locative forms, it is created by adding the suffix -lla to the stem, here yielding hevosella.

In ordinary use, hevosella is common with verbs of motion and travel. For example, you can say “Hän matkusti hevosella” (He traveled by horse) or “Hän ratsasti hevosella” (He rode a horse). The adessive can also describe transportation by means of an animal in wider contexts. When the meaning is specifically that someone is mounted on the horse, Finnish speakers often prefer the phrase “hevosen selässä” (on the horse’s back) rather than using hevosella alone.

Common cautions about usage include distinguishing hevosella from other cases that express different relationships with the animal. For being on the animal, on the back is typically described with selässä, while hevosella marks the means of travel or general location on the animal’s surface.

Examples:

- Hän matkusti hevosella.

- He ratsasti hevosella.

- Lähdimme hevosella liikkeelle.

Morphology note: hevosella is the singular adessive form meaning “on a horse.” The plural form is hevosilla (on horses). The adessive is one of several locative cases Finns use to express location and means of transport with nouns like hevonen.

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