Questions & Answers about Tammikuussa on kylmä, ja helmikuussa sataa usein.
How do you say "in" a specific month?
To say "in" a month, you add the inessive ending -ssa (meaning "in") to the month's name. Because all Finnish months end in the word kuu, they always take the -ssa ending rather than -ssä. That is why we get tammikuussa (in January) and helmikuussa (in February).
Where is the word for "it" in on kylmä and sataa?
Finnish doesn't use a subject word like "it" for weather or general conditions. Instead of saying "it is cold" or "it rains", you simply leave the subject out and say on kylmä (is cold) and sataa (rains).
Why isn't helmikuussa capitalized?
Unlike in English, months, days of the week, and languages are written with lowercase letters in Finnish. Tammikuussa is only capitalized here because it is the very first word of the sentence.
What does the kuu part of the month names mean?
Kuu means "moon" or "month" in Finnish, and every month name ends with it. Tammikuu traditionally means "oak month" or "heartwood month", and helmikuu means "pearl month", referring to frozen ice droplets on tree branches.
Why does the time (Tammikuussa, helmikuussa) come first in these clauses?