Finnish for busy people

Yllä Ylle Yltä Yläpuolella Ylhäällä Yli – What’s the Difference

The topic of this article is quite the list: yllä, ylle, yltä, yläpuolella, ylhäällä, yli. These words are bound to create some confusion, especially if you’re using Google Translate. Let’s take a look at the difference between these words!

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  1. Yllä vs. Yläpuolella – Postpositions
  2. Ylläni Ylläsi – Wearing clothes
  3. Yllä – Yltä – Ylle
  4. Yläpuolella – Yläpuolelta – Yläpuolelle
  5. Ylhäällä – Ylhäältä – Ylös
  6. Yli

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1. Yllä vs. Yläpuolella – Postpositions

Yllä and yläpuolella can be used as postpositions in combination with the genitive case, in which case their meaning often overlaps. Both can be translated as “over” or “above”. Of the two, yläpuolella is used more so I suggest you rather use that one. The numbers below correspond with the example sentences in the table below.

  1. Yllä is more literary than yläpuolella. It’s used in books to describe, for example, landscapes or scenery.
  2. Yläpuolella is common in e.g. weather reports describing what’s happening in the air or sky.
  3. Sometimes yllä and yläpuolella can be used in near-identical ways, for example to describe what’s covering the terrace.
  4. However, only yläpuolella works when expressing how high above something is located.
# Finnish English
1 Revontulet tanssivat [Suomen yllä]. The Northern lights dance [over Finland].
1 Taivas [meren yllä] on violetti. The sky [above the sea] is purple.
1 Hajuveden tuoksu leijailee [pöydän yllä]. The perfume’s scent hovers [over the table].
1 [Pöydän yllä] säihkyi kattokruunu. The chandelier sparkled [above the table].
1 Painavat oksat roikkuivat [terassin yllä]. The heavy branches hung [over the terrace].
2 [Suomen yläpuolella] on lämmin ilmamassa. There’s a warm air mass [above Finland].
2 Myrsky muodostui [meren yläpuolella]. A storm formed [above the sea].
3 [Terassin yllä] oli telttakangas. [Above the terrace] was a tent cloth.
3 [Terassin yläpuolella] ei ole katetta. There’s no cover [above the terrace].
4 Lamppu roikkui [60 cm pöydän yläpuolella]. The lamp hung [60 cm above the table].
4 Parveke on [2 metriä terassin yläpuolella]. The balcony is [2 meters above the terrace].

Another connotation can be perceived: yllä can describe a wider area which stretches further. For example, the branches of a tree are above a terrace, but not solely there. They of course go all the way to the tree. That’s why yllä is more suitable here than yläpuolella.

In contrast, yläpuolella is often used to express that something is located right above something. For example, a lamp above a table does not span any further than the table: it’s placed exactly above the table.

Please note that this is not a “rule” as such; it’s just a small difference that can be perceived when scrutinizing both words closely.

2. Ylläni Ylläsi – Wearing Clothes

Yllä can also be used to express what you’re wearing. A possessive suffix will be used in these situations. In these cases, we can also use päällä instead, which doesn’t always require a possessive suffix.

While ylläni and päällä translate literally as “on me” or “over me”, in English this doesn’t sound natural. Using the verb “to wear” works in English as a translation.

Finnish English
Hän nukkui vaatteet yllään. He slept wearing his clothes.
Minulla oli ylläni sininen leninki. I was wearing a blue dress.
Mitä sinulla oli ylläsi juhlissa? What were you wearing at the party?
Mitä sinulla oli päällä eilen? What were you wearing yesterday?
Minulla oli päällä(ni) musta puku. I was wearing a black suit.

3. Yllä – Yltä – Ylle

Often, postpositions can be inflected in the location cases. The following three examples contain the missä-form (yllä), the mistä-form (yltä) and the mihin-form (ylle).

Finnish English
Täysikuu loisti [meren yllä]. The full moon shone [above the sea].
Tuulet väistyivät [meren yltä]. The winds gave way [over the sea].
[Meren ylle] nousi täysi kuu. A full moon rose [over the sea].
Sumu roikkui [vuorten yllä]. The fog hung [over the mountains].
Pilvet haihtuivat [vuorten yltä]. The clouds disappeared [over the mountains].
[Vuorten ylle] kertyi tummia pilviä. Dark clouds accumulated [above the mountains].
Minulla oli takki ylläni. I was wearing a jacket.
Otin takin yltäni. I took the jacket off.
Puin takin ylleni. I put on the jacket.

4. Yläpuolella – Yläpuolelta – Yläpuolelle

Just like yllä, yläpuolella can be inflected in the location cases. The following three examples contain the missä-form (yläpuolella), the mistä-form (yläpuolelta) and the mihin-form (yläpuolelle).

Finnish English
Asun [baarin yläpuolella]. I live [above a bar (one floor up)].
Muutin pois [baarin yläpuolelta]. I moved away [from above the bar].
Muutin [baarin yläpuolelle]. I moved [(to the apartment) above the bar].
Pistävä kipu sijaitsee [polven yläpuolella]. The stinging pain is located [above the knee].
Hän sitoo jalkaa [polven yläpuolelta]. He binds the leg [from above the knee].
Mekko ulottuu [juuri polven yläpuolelle]. The dress extends [to just above the knee].
Kattokruunu roikkuu [pöydän yläpuolella]. The chandelier hangs [above the table].
[Pöydän yläpuolelta] puuttuu lamppu. There’s a lamp missing [from above the table].
Ripustin kattokruunun [pöydän yläpuolelle]. I hung the chandelier [above the table].

5. Ylhäällä – Ylhäältä – Ylös

Generally, ylhäällä is just translated as “up”. It’s an adverb rather than a postposition (yllä and yläpuolella are postpositions). This means ylhäällä doesn’t require a word in the genitive case attached to it: it appears on its own.

This adverb can be inflected in the location cases: ylhäällä is the missä-form (expressing a static “up”), ylhäältä is the mistä-form (expressing a movement “from up” downwards) and ylös is the mihin-form (expressing a movement upwards).

Finnish English
Aurinko oli jo ylhäällä kun heräsin. The sun was already up when I woke up.
Aurinko paistaa suoraan ylhäältä alas. The sun shines straight from the top down.
Aurinko nousi ylös taivaanrantaan. The sun rose up to the horizon.
He tulivat ulos kädet ylhäällä. They came out with their hands up.
Vie kädet ylhäältä kaaressa alas. Bring your hands from top to bottom in an arc.
Seis! Nosta kädet ylös! Stop! Raise you hands!
Ovi avautui, kun hissi oli ylhäällä. The door opened when the elevator was up.
Tulin hissillä ylhäältä pohjakerrokseen. I came by elevator from the top to the ground floor.
Kävelin portaita ylös. I walked up the stairs.

6. Yli

When used as a postposition, yli expresses that something undergoes a movement over or across something (from one side to the other over something). This postposition doesn’t inflect at all. It can either appear behind the main word [GEN + yli] (see #1) or in front of it [yli + GEN] (see #2). The latter is more rare and sounds more literary, and often you will find ylitse in these phrases (which means the same as yli).

The word yli is also an adverb (#3), in which case it usually means “over, more than”.

# Finnish English
1 Kettu hyppäsi [aidan yli]. The fox jumped [over the fence].
1 Hän auttoi mummon [tien yli]. He helped grandma [across the street].
1 Näen meren [kattojen yli]. I see the sea [over the rooftops].
2 Rakastan sinua [yli kaiken]. I love you [above all].
2 Yhteistyötä tehdään [yli rajojen]. Teamwork takes place [across borders].
2 Pilvet liukuvat [ylitse maan]. Clouds glide [over the ground].
3 [Yli 70-vuotiaat] eivät osallistu. People [over the age of 70] do not participate.
3 Tutkinta kesti [yli kaksi vuotta]. The investigation took [more than two years].

 

Hopefully this article helped you get closer to understanding the differences in meaning between the words yllä, ylle, yltä, ylläpuolella, ylhäällä and yli!

5 Comments

  • That’s very useful, thank you very much! Can it be all analogously applied to “alla”, “alapuolella”, “alhaalla” etc?

    By the way, in the title, in the beginning and the end of the article you spelt “ylläpuolella” instead of “yläpuolella”.

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