kynillä

Kynillä is the plural adessive form of the Finnish noun kynä, meaning pen or pencil. In Finnish grammar, the adessive case (ending -lla/-llä) can indicate location on or at something, but it is also commonly used to express instrument or means by which an action is performed. Therefore kynillä most often conveys “with pens” or “by using pens,” especially when referring to more than one pen.

Form and usage note: The base word kynä becomes kynällä in the singular adessive and kynillä in the plural adessive. This form is typically used with verbs of writing or drawing. The singular instrument form is kynällä, as in kirjoitan kynällä meaning “I write with a pen.” The plural form kynillä is used when the action is performed with multiple pens or when pens are treated as the instrument collectively.

Common meanings and examples: The primary meaning of kynillä is instrumental. Examples include: "Kynillä kirjoitan nopeasti," translated as "I write quickly with pens," and "Kynillä piirtäminen vaatii harjoitusta," meaning "Drawing with pens requires practice." In everyday Finnish, speakers more often use the singular kynällä when referring to a single pen, while kynillä is appropriate when describing the use of several pens or a set of writing instruments.

Notes: Kynillä is a standard grammatical form and is not a separate lexical item. While it can theoretically appear in phrases describing location on or at something using the adessive sense, its primary and most natural use is to indicate the instrument used for writing or drawing with multiple pens. See also the related forms kynällä (singular instrument) and kynät (pens, plural noun).