Voisitko soittaa minulle, kun sinulla on hetki aikaa?

you

Breakdown of Voisitko soittaa minulle, kun sinulla on hetki aikaa?

• voida: to be able to
• kun: when
• soittaa: to call
• aika: the time
• minä: me
• hetki: the moment

Questions & Answers about Voisitko soittaa minulle, kun sinulla on hetki aikaa?

Why does the sentence start with Voisitko instead of something like Voitko?

In Finnish, Voisitko is the conditional form of voitko (“can you?”). Using the conditional (-isi) makes the request more polite or tentative. So voitko is can you, while voisitko is closer to could you and sounds more courteous.

I see minulle in the sentence. Why does it end with -lle?

The ending -lle indicates the “allative” case in Finnish, often translated as to (someone). So minulle literally means to me. In English, that part of the sentence is simply call me, but in Finnish we say soittaa minulle (to call to me).

What is the function of kun here, and could it be replaced with jos?

Kun means when, implying that the action should happen at a specific time (i.e., once you have a moment). Jos means if, which would change the meaning to something more conditional. So kun is the correct choice when you’re waiting for that inevitable moment your listener has time.

Is there anything special about the phrase kun sinulla on hetki aikaa?

Yes. In Finnish, having time is often expressed as sinulla on aikaa (“you have time”), using the on form of the verb olla and the adessive case (sinulla = “at you”). Hetki means “moment,” so kun sinulla on hetki aikaa is literally “when you have a moment of time.”

Does the word order matter much in Voisitko soittaa minulle, kun sinulla on hetki aikaa?

The word order here is natural: request first (Voisitko soittaa minulle), then the condition (kun sinulla on hetki aikaa). You could put kun sinulla on hetki aikaa at the start for emphasis, but it would sound more formal or poetic. In general, Finnish is quite flexible, but this order is the most straightforward and commonly used.