kaukaisilla

Kaukaisilla is a Finnish adjective form, the adessive plural of the word kaukainen, meaning distant or remote. It is used to describe location for plural nouns, indicating “on distant places” or “in distant places” when the noun is in the adessive case.

In Finnish grammar, adjectives agree with the noun in number and case. Kaukaisilla appears with plural nouns in the adessive case, as in kaukaisilla paikoilla (in distant places) or kaukaisilla saarilla (on distant islands). It is common in descriptive or narrative contexts, especially in travel writing, geography, or literature that aims to evoke remoteness. The form is often paired with nouns that convey space, regions, or communities beyond the near or familiar.

Other inflected forms of the same base include kaukaiset (nominative plural), kaukaisia (partitive plural), kaukaisen (genitive singular), kaukaisilta (elative plural), and kaukaisille (allative plural). For example: “Tutkimus toteutettiin kaukaisilla alueilla” (The study was conducted in distant regions), “Hänen perheensä asuu kaukaisilla saarilla” (His/her family lives on distant islands), and “Keskustelu tapahtui kaukaisilta mailta tulleiden tarinoiden perusteella” (The discussion drew on stories from distant lands).

Etymology traces kaukainen to the root kauka- from the Finnish word kauas meaning far, with the -inen suffix forming the adjective. The associated noun kaukaisuus means distance or remoteness. The term is primarily found in written Finnish and is widely understood, though it is more typical in formal or literary styles than in everyday casual speech.