Breakdown of Kun tuuli on kova, merellä on myrsky.
olla
to be
tuuli
the wind
kun
when (conjunction)
kova
strong (intense, hard)
myrsky
storm
meri
sea
Questions & Answers about Kun tuuli on kova, merellä on myrsky.
Does starting a sentence with kun (when) change the word order?
No, it doesn't! In Finnish, subordinate clauses introduced by words like kun keep the normal word order. The phrase kun tuuli on kova follows the standard Subject + Verb + Adjective pattern, just like a regular main clause.
Why is kova translated as "strong" here? Doesn't it mean "hard"?
Yes, kova is the basic word for "hard." However, Finnish uses kova to describe many things that are intense, severe, or loud. For weather, Finns naturally say kova tuuli ("hard wind") instead of using a direct translation of the English word "strong."
Why does the second half of the sentence put the location (merellä) before the subject (myrsky)?
This is an existential sentence, which states that something exists somewhere (like "there is" in English). In Finnish, these sentences usually start with the location (merellä), followed by the verb (on), and end with the new thing that exists (myrsky). If you said myrsky on merellä, it would mean "the (specific) storm is on the sea."
How do we get merellä from the dictionary word for sea (meri)?
Many older Finnish words ending in -i change that -i to an -e- before you add grammar endings. Here, the word meri becomes the stem mere-, and then you add the "on/at" ending -llä to get merellä.
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