Breakdown of Lentoemäntä huomasi käsimatkatavarat, ennen kuin me kiinnitimme turvavyöt.
me
we
huomata
to notice
lentoemäntä
flight attendant
turvavyö
seatbelt
Questions & Answers about Lentoemäntä huomasi käsimatkatavarat, ennen kuin me kiinnitimme turvavyöt.
Why is there a comma before ennen kuin? We usually wouldn't use one before "before" in English.
In Finnish, you must use a comma to separate a main clause from a subordinate clause. Because ennen kuin (before) introduces a subordinate clause, placing a comma right before it is a strict grammar rule, even if it feels a bit unnatural to English speakers.
Does the phrase ennen kuin change the word order of the clause that follows it?
No, it doesn't. Finnish keeps the standard Subject-Verb-Object word order in this subordinate clause: me (subject) kiinnitimme (verb) turvavyöt (object).
Both käsimatkatavarat and turvavyöt end in -t. Are they in the basic nominative case here?
They look exactly like the basic plural nominative, but grammatically they are plural objects. When a regular action verb like huomata (to notice) or kiinnittää (to fasten) has a plural object, that object always takes this -t ending, representing the plural accusative.
The dictionary form for "to fasten" is kiinnittää. Why does it change to kiinnitimme with only one t in the middle?