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).

Morphology and related forms

- 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), ystävilleni (with my friends)

The bare plural form ystävillä generally appears in contexts where the ownership is understood from context or when referring to friends as a general group.

Usage and nuance

Ystävillä is less common in everyday conversational Finnish compared with more explicit expressions like ystävien kanssa (“with the friends”). It appears in set phrases and in constructions that emphasize location or presence with a group of friends, sometimes in written or formal style. The choice between -llä/-illä forms and kanssa-compounds reflects nuances of focus: location or companionship (with) versus general association (with the friends).

Etymology

The form derives from ystävä (friend) plus the locative suffix -llä (-illa in plural), adapting to indicate multiple friends and their location or accompaniment.

See also: ystävä, ystävät, ystävien, ystävien kanssa.