Minä herään ennen sinua.

I wake up before you.

Breakdown of Minä herään ennen sinua.

• minä: I
• herätä: to wake up
• sinä: you
• ennen: before

Questions & Answers about Minä herään ennen sinua.

Why is sinua in the partitive case instead of the nominative sinä?

The postposition ennen (meaning before) requires its complement to be in the partitive case. That’s why we say ennen sinua rather than ennen sinä.

Can I change the word order to Ennen sinua minä herään?

Yes, you can place ennen sinua at the beginning. However, it sounds slightly more natural to start with minä herään. Placing the phrase at the beginning simply adds emphasis to before you. Both orders are grammatically correct.

Is the subject pronoun minä always necessary in Finnish?

In standard Finnish, the subject pronoun can be dropped because the verb form already indicates the person. However, including minä makes it more explicit. So you could say Herään ennen sinua and it would still be correct.

Why is the verb form herään instead of herää?

The verb herätä (to wake up) is being conjugated in the first-person singular present tense. The personal ending –n indicates that the subject is minä.

Could we say Minä herään aikaisemmin kuin sinä to express something similar?

Yes! Using aikaisemmin kuin sinä (literally "earlier than you") is another way to say something close in meaning. But ennen sinua is still perfectly correct and shorter.