Minä juon vettä.

I

Breakdown of Minä juon vettä.

• vesi: the water
• juoda: to drink

Questions & Answers about Minä juon vettä.

Why is the word vettä used instead of vesi?

In Finnish, you use the partitive case (vettä) when talking about an indefinite amount or something that is not counted as a whole. Here, it emphasizes that you are drinking some water (rather than all of it or a specific quantity).

Can I leave out the word Minä in this sentence?

Yes! In Finnish, personal pronouns can often be dropped because the verb form already indicates the subject. So you could say Juon vettä instead of Minä juon vettä, and it would still mean the same thing.

How do we form the partitive case for words like vesi?

The base form is vesi, and the partitive form is vettä. The process involves changing the stem and adding a suitable ending. In this particular case, vesi transforms its stem to vet- and then adds -tä to form vettä.

Why does the verb look like juon instead of juoda?

Juon is the first-person singular (I-form) of the verb juoda (to drink) in the present tense. Finnish verbs typically change their endings according to person and tense. Here, the stem is juo-, and for the first-person singular, -n is added, resulting in juon.

Does Finnish sentence order matter as much as in English?

Finnish word order is relatively flexible compared to English. The sentence Minä juon vettä is perfectly standard, but you could also say Vettä juon minä, for example, and be understood. However, the most common and natural word order is still subject–verb–object.