Questions & Answers about Odota, kunnes vesi kiehuu.
Why is there a comma before kunnes?
In Finnish grammar, you must generally use a comma to separate a main clause from a subordinate clause. Because kunnes (until) is a conjunction that introduces a subordinate clause, the comma right before it is mandatory.
Does kunnes change the word order of the clause that follows it?
No. Unlike some other European languages, Finnish subordinate clauses usually keep the standard word order. After kunnes, you simply follow the normal Subject + Verb structure: vesi (the water) + kiehuu (boils).
Why use kiehuu here instead of keittää for "boils"?
Finnish uses different verbs for boiling depending on the situation. Kiehua means that a liquid is boiling on its own (the water boils). Keittää means that someone is actively boiling something (like a chef boiling potatoes). Here, the water is boiling itself, so we use kiehuu.
As a quick refresher, why is the verb odottaa written here as odota?
This is the singular imperative (command) form. You form it by taking the "I" form of the verb (odotan) and dropping the -n. Notice that the double tt in the basic form weakens to a single t here because of consonant gradation.