Breakdown of Minun puhuessani ääni katkesi, joten luulin, että mykistit mikrofonin.
minä
I
puhua
to speak
että
that (conjunction)
luulla
to think, to suppose
ääni
sound
joten
so, therefore
mikrofoni
microphone
katketa
to disconnect / to break off
mykistää
to mute
Questions & Answers about Minun puhuessani ääni katkesi, joten luulin, että mykistit mikrofonin.
Why is joten used here for "so" instead of niin?
Joten is a relative conjunction used to express a logical consequence ("therefore" or "as a result"). The sound cutting out is the direct reason I thought you muted the mic. While niin is often used for "so" in casual spoken language or as a filler word, joten is the correct conjunction to link a cause to its resulting effect in a sentence like this.
How does the structure Minun puhuessani work to mean "while I was speaking"?
This is a temporal construction (temporaalirakenne) that replaces a standard kun (when/while) clause. It's built with the genitive pronoun minun, the second infinitive of the verb in the inessive case (puhuessa-), and the personal possessive suffix -ni. It translates literally to something like "in my speaking".
The verb katkesi comes from katketa. Doesn't that usually mean "to snap" or "to break"?
Yes! While katketa literally means "to snap" (like a twig or a rope), it is the standard verb used in Finnish to describe invisible connections breaking. You will frequently hear it used for phone calls dropping, internet connections failing, or a voice and sound cutting out.
Why does mikrofonin end in an -n here?
It is the direct object of the verb mykistit ("you muted"). Because the action is completed and affects the entire microphone, it takes the total object case (accusative), which for singular nouns looks exactly like the genitive -n ending.
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