Minä menen kauppaan.

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Breakdown of Minä menen kauppaan.

• mennä: to go
• kauppa: the store

Questions & Answers about Minä menen kauppaan.

Why do we sometimes see "minä" omitted in Finnish sentences?

Finnish is a pro-drop language, meaning the subject pronoun can be inferred from the verb ending. Saying Minä menen kauppaan explicitly states "I go to the store," but simply Menen kauppaan is also perfectly correct and understood as "I go to the store."

Why does the verb end with "-n"?

In Finnish, -n is the first-person singular verb ending in the present tense. It indicates that "I" am doing the action. For instance, mennä (to go) becomes menen ("I go") when conjugated in the first-person singular.

What case is "kauppaan" in?

It is in the illative case, which often answers the question "to where?" This case is typically used to express movement into something, so kauppaan translates to "into the store."

Why do I see different forms like "kaupassa," "kaupasta," and "kauppaan"?

These are different locative cases in Finnish: • kaupassa ("in the store") – inessive case
• kaupasta ("from the store") – elative case
• kauppaan ("into the store") – illative case

They each show a different direction or location related to the store.

Does "menen" mean both "I am going" and "I will go"?

Yes. Finnish does not usually distinguish between present continuous and future tenses the way English does. Menen kauppaan can mean "I am going to the store (right now)" or "I will go to the store (later)" depending on context.