niissä

Niissä is a Finnish word that functions as the inessive plural form of the demonstrative pronoun ne, meaning “in them.” In Finnish, pronouns and other words take case endings to express location, and the inessive case marks “in” or “inside.” The plural inessive suffix is -issä, and together with the base ne it yields niissä.

Usage and meaning

Niissä refers to a plural antecedent that has been mentioned or is understood from context. It is used to indicate something is located inside or within those items or people described by ne. It is not used with singular antecedents; for a singular antecedent you would use siinä (in it). Niihin would be used to express “into them” or various senses of movement toward those items.

Examples

- Laatikoita oli kolme; niissä on kirjoja. (There were three boxes; there are books in them.)

- Kävimme useissa laatikoissa, ja niissä oli vanhoja valokuvia. (We looked through several boxes, and inside them were old photos.)

Related forms and notes

Niissä is part of a broader system of Finnish case endings for pronouns and nouns. Other related forms include siittä/siissä for different demonstratives and ne/si/siin variants depending on number and case. In contrast, illative forms like niihin express movement into them, while some singular forms use siihen or siihen patterns.

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