poliiseilla

Poliiseilla is the plural adessive form of the Finnish noun poliisi, and is used to express location or possession with a plural subject referring to the police as a group. In Finnish, the adessive case is formed with the suffix -lla/-llä; for the plural form the stem becomes poliise- plus -illa, yielding poliiseilla. The singular counterpart is poliisilla.

In usage, poliiseilla typically appears with the verb olla (to be) to describe a state or possession of the police as a collective or organization. For example, Poliiseilla on kiire means “The police are busy,” and Poliiseilla on uusi auto means “The police have a new car.” The construction conveys properties of the police as an entity rather than those of individual officers.

Distinctions and related forms: poliiseilla should not be confused with the singular adessive poliisilla (on/at/with the police, referring to a single officer or the police as a singular institution). Other case forms of poliisi include nominative poliisi (police officer), plural nominative poliisit (police officers), and various other cases such as poliisin (genitive) and poliisista (elative). The plural adessive form poliiseilla is specifically used for plural reference in locative or distributive contexts.

See also: Finnish noun inflection, Finnish case system, poliisi in Finnish law enforcement terminology.