vihreältä

Vihreältä is the elative singular form of the Finnish adjective vihreä, meaning green. In Finnish grammar, the elative case often expresses origin or source (from green) and is also used in color descriptions that convey perceptual impressions rather than a definite color label. When vihreä is used as a predicative adjective with verbs like näyttää (to seem/look) or tuntua (to feel), the complement commonly takes the elative form, yielding vihreältä.

Usage and nuance

In ordinary color descriptions Finnish speakers frequently use the nominative vihreä for a straightforward label, but vihreältä adds nuance. It signals how something appears or feels in that moment, rather than asserting a fixed color. For example, Vesi näyttää vihreältä means “The water looks green/greenish.” The elative form can also appear in more literary or descriptive contexts, for instance with phrases like vihreältä hohteelta (from a greenish glow).

Declension notes

The elative singular of vihreä is vihreältä, and the elative plural is vihreiltä. For completeness, the common forms of vihreä in other cases are: nominative vihreä; genitive vihreän; partitive vihreää, etc. The elative form is specifically used when indicating origin or a perceptual state connected to color.

Related considerations

Vihreältä is primarily a color-description tool in predicative or descriptive constructions. Its use helps convey subtlety, such as uncertainty or impression, beyond a plain color label.