Questions & Answers about Kun me jäämme tänne, ankkurin köysi on meressä.
Why is there no word order inversion in the second part of the sentence?
In some languages, starting a sentence with a kun (when) clause would force the main clause to swap its subject and verb. Finnish doesn't do this! The main clause ankkurin köysi on meressä keeps its normal subject-verb word order, just like in English.
Is the comma after tänne strictly necessary?
Yes. In Finnish punctuation rules, you must always separate a main clause from a subordinate clause (like the one starting with kun) with a comma.
Why does the sentence use tänne (to here) instead of täällä (at here) with the verb jäädä (to stay)?
In Finnish, the verb jäädä (to stay/remain) is treated as a movement verb. You are conceptually leaving yourself somewhere! Therefore, it requires a directional word like tänne (to here) or a location ending in an into case, rather than a static location word like täällä.
How does the word meri (sea) become meressä?
Meri is an old Finnish word ending in -i. When adding endings like the in case (-ssä), the final -i changes to an -e-. So, meri becomes the stem mere-, and adding -ssä gives us meressä (in the sea).