Word
Naapuri lähtee pois.
Meaning
The neighbour is leaving.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Finnish grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Naapuri lähtee pois.
Why do we need the word 'pois' here? Doesn't 'lähtee' already mean 'leaves'?
Yes, lähtee means 'leaves' or 'departs'. Adding the word pois (away) is very common in Finnish to emphasize the action of going away or leaving a place, much like saying 'heading out' or 'going away' in English.
How do we form 'lähtee' from the dictionary word?
The dictionary form is lähteä (to leave). To get the 'he/she/it' form, you take the stem lähte- and double the final vowel. That makes it lähtee (he/she/it leaves).
Why isn't there a word for 'the' in front of 'naapuri'?
Finnish doesn't use articles like 'a' or 'the'. The word naapuri can mean 'a neighbour' or 'the neighbour'. You just have to tell from the context which one makes sense.
The translation says 'is leaving', but is this a specific tense in Finnish?
No, Finnish doesn't have a separate tense for things happening right now (like the English 'is leaving'). The standard present tense form lähtee covers both 'leaves' (in general) and 'is leaving' (right now).!