Word
Kello on varttia yli kahdeksan aamulla.
Meaning
It is a quarter past eight in the morning.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Kello on varttia yli kahdeksan aamulla.
olla
to be
kello
watch / clock (the time)
kahdeksan
eight
aamu
morning
Questions & Answers about Kello on varttia yli kahdeksan aamulla.
Why is 'quarter' written as varttia instead of its basic form vartti?
When expressing minutes past (yli) or to (vaille) the hour, Finnish uses the partitive form of the word. The partitive form of vartti is varttia.
Why do we say kello on instead of translating 'it is'?
To state the time, Finnish always uses kello on, which literally means 'the clock is'. You do not use the pronoun for 'it' (se) when telling the time.
Does Finnish put the words in the same order as English for 'a quarter past eight'?
Yes! The structure is exactly the same here: varttia (a quarter) comes first, followed by yli (past), and then the hour kahdeksan (eight).
Why does the word for morning (aamu) end with -lla?
The -lla ending is a case that usually translates to 'on' or 'at'. Finnish uses this ending on times of the day to specify when something happens, so adding it to aamu creates aamulla, meaning 'in the morning'.