Describing Posture (Absolute Phrases of State)
To describe posture or how someone wears something, you don't need a word for "with" (e.g., "with his hands in his pockets"). In Finnish, use an absolute phrase of state (irtonainen tilanilmaus): a body part or clothing item in the basic nominative case, immediately followed by a location word or posture adverb.
| The man sat in the carriage with his hands in his pockets. | Mies istui vaunussa kädet taskussa. |
Posture Adverbs
Many common postures use specific state adverbs or nouns in local cases to describe exactly how the body is positioned.
- ristissä (crossed, literally "in a cross")
- koukussa (bent, literally "in a hook")
- harallaan (spread apart)
- kallellaan (tilted)
- päässä (worn on the head, literally "in the head")
| The young boy slept with a cap on his head and his head tilted. | Nuori poika nukkui lippis päässä ja pää kallellaan. |
| The woman is reading a book with her legs bent. | Nainen lukee kirjaa jalat koukussa. |
| One guy is really tired and is sitting with his legs spread apart. | Yks tyyppi on tosi väsyny ja istuu jalat harallaan. |
Sitting Opposite (vastapäätä)
To describe sitting across from someone, use the postposition vastapäätä (opposite). It typically directly follows the person or thing they are facing, which must be in the partitive case (like minua for "me", or opettajaa for "the teacher").
| The conductor stood opposite me with his arms crossed. | Konduktööri seisoi minua vastapäätä kädet ristissä. |
| The student sat opposite the teacher with his ankles crossed. | Opiskelija istui opettajaa vastapäätä nilkat ristissä. |
Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io
