ystävillä
Ystävillä is the plural adessive form of the Finnish noun ystävä, meaning “friend.” In Finnish, the adessive case (suffix -lla/-illä) is used to express location (on/at) or accompaniment (together with). Therefore, ystävillä translates roughly as “at the friends” or “with the friends,” depending on context, and is most often found in phrases that indicate being with a group of friends or being at a place associated with those friends. The form can carry a possessive suffix to specify whose friends are involved, for example ystävillään (with his/her/your/their friends), ystävällemme (with our friends), or ystävilläni (with my friends).
- Singular: ystävällä (on/at the friend) or ystävällään (with his/her/your friend)
- Plural: ystävillä (on/at the friends) or with possessive: ystävillään (with his/her/your friends), ystävillämme (with our friends),
The bare plural form ystävillä generally appears in contexts where the ownership is understood from context
Ystävillä is less common in everyday conversational Finnish compared with more explicit expressions like ystävien kanssa
The form derives from ystävä (friend) plus the locative suffix -llä (-illa in plural), adapting to indicate