To place one event before, after, or up to another, Finnish builds analytic temporal connectives: an adverb or postpositional phrase plus kun or kuin, followed by a full finite clause. The core set is ennen kuin ("before"), sen jälkeen kun ("after"), heti kun ("as soon as"), siitä asti kun ("ever since"), and the single-word kunnes ("until"). Two of these hide a spelling trap that even advanced learners miss, and all of them have tighter, participle-based alternatives that native writers prefer once you climb past B1.
ennen kuin — "before"
ennen kuin heads a clause naming the later event; the main clause happens first. Crucially it is written as two words, and the second word is kuin — the comparative particle "than," not the temporal kun "when." Historically ennen kuin means "earlier than," so the "than" word is exactly right. This is the mirror image of the koska/kun confusion, and almost no learner notices it.
Syön aamiaista, ennen kuin lähden töihin.
I eat breakfast before I leave for work.
Pese kädet, ennen kuin istut pöytään.
Wash your hands before you sit down at the table.
Ehdin lukea kirjan loppuun, ennen kuin lentokone laskeutui.
I managed to finish the book before the plane landed.
sen jälkeen kun — "after", and heti kun — "as soon as"
sen jälkeen kun ("after") is literally "after that, when": the genitive sen ("of that") plus the postposition jälkeen ("after") plus a kun-clause. heti kun ("as soon as") glues the adverb heti ("immediately") to kun.
Sen jälkeen kun sain uuden työn, olen ollut paljon onnellisempi.
After I got a new job, I've been much happier.
Soita minulle heti kun pääset perille.
Call me as soon as you arrive.
Heti kun näen hänet, kerron uutisen.
As soon as I see him, I'll tell him the news.
To say "ever since," extend the same pattern with siitä asti ("from that point"):
Olemme olleet ystäviä siitä asti kun aloitimme koulun.
We've been friends ever since we started school.
kunnes — "until"
kunnes is the one temporal subordinator that is a single, dedicated word: it means "until (the point when)." The action of the main clause continues right up to the moment the kunnes-clause becomes true.
Odota tässä, kunnes tulen takaisin.
Wait here until I come back.
Jatkoimme kävelyä, kunnes aurinko laski.
We kept walking until the sun set.
Beware the postpositions asti and saakka, which also translate as "until" but attach to a noun, not a clause: kello viiteen asti ("until five o'clock"), iltaan saakka ("until evening"). If a finite clause follows, you need kunnes; if a time expression follows, you need asti / saakka.
The tighter, non-finite alternative
Everything above uses a full finite subordinate clause, and at B1 that is exactly what you want. But Finnish prefers participle constructions for these relations once the subject is shared, and native prose leans on them heavily.
For "before", the idiomatic compression is not an infinitive but ennen + a verbal noun in the partitive: ennen lähtöä ("before departure / before leaving").
Tarkista passi ennen lähtöä.
Check your passport before departure.
For "after", Finnish uses the temporal participle in -ttua / -tyä: syötyään ("after eating"), lähdettyään ("after leaving") — covered on the -ttua/-tyä construction. And note a false friend: the -essa form lähtiessä means "while / as leaving," a simultaneous action — never "before." Do not press it into service for ennen kuin. The whole participial temporal system is laid out on temporal constructions.
Join kupin kahvia ennen töihin lähtöä.
I drank a cup of coffee before leaving for work.
Common Mistakes
❌ Syön aamiaista, ennenkuin lähden.
Incorrect — ennen kuin is written as two separate words.
✅ Syön aamiaista, ennen kuin lähden.
I eat breakfast before I leave.
❌ Pese kädet, ennen kun syöt.
Incorrect — 'before' takes kuin (the 'than' particle), not kun.
✅ Pese kädet, ennen kuin syöt.
Wash your hands before you eat.
❌ Sen jälkeen kuin sain työn, muutin Ouluun.
Incorrect — the 'after' connective takes kun, not kuin (the mirror of the 'before' trap).
✅ Sen jälkeen kun sain työn, muutin Ouluun.
After I got a job, I moved to Oulu.
❌ Odota, asti minä tulen.
Incorrect — a following clause needs kunnes; asti only attaches to a noun.
✅ Odota, kunnes minä tulen.
Wait until I come.
Key Takeaways
- ennen kuin = "before," two words, with kuin; sen jälkeen kun = "after," with kun. Keep the particles straight.
- heti kun = "as soon as," siitä asti kun = "ever since," kunnes = "until (a clause)."
- Use kunnes before a clause but asti / saakka before a time noun.
- Above B1, compress with participles: ennen lähtöä ("before leaving"), syötyään ("after eating") — but lähtiessä means "while leaving," not "before."
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Start learning Finnish→Related Topics
- Cause and Time: koska, kun, kunnesA2 — koska gives the reason ('because'), kun marks time ('when/as'), and kunnes marks the endpoint ('until') — plus the deadly kun/kuin trap, one vowel apart.
- The Temporal Construction: Kotiin tullessaniB2 — Replace a 'while/when' kun-clause with the second infinitive inessive -essa plus a possessive suffix: Kotiin tullessani soi puhelin ('while I was coming home, the phone rang').
- kuin vs kunB2 — The comparison word kuin ('than, as') versus the temporal kun ('when') — a one-letter difference that spoken Finnish hides but writing demands.
- Temporal -ttua: After Doing (tehtyäni)C1 — The 'after doing' temporal clause: past passive participle in the partitive plus a possessive suffix — Syötyäni lähdin ('after I ate, I left'), Hänen lähdettyään ('after he left').