Minä löydän kissan ulkona.

I find the cat outside.

Breakdown of Minä löydän kissan ulkona.

• minä: I
• kissa: the cat
• ulkona: outside
• löytää: to find

Questions & Answers about Minä löydän kissan ulkona.

Why is the subject pronoun Minä explicitly included in the sentence, even though Finnish often omits it?

In Finnish, the verb ending already tells you who is performing the action, so the subject pronoun isn’t strictly necessary. However, including Minä can add emphasis or clarity—especially for beginners who are still mastering verb conjugations. It helps reinforce who is acting in the sentence.

What does the verb form löydän tell us about the subject and the action?

The verb löydän is conjugated for the first-person singular, which aligns with the subject Minä (“I”). The ending -n clearly indicates that the speaker is performing the action. This conjugation is a key feature in Finnish that often allows for subject pronoun omission when the context is clear.

Why is the word kissan used in this sentence, and what case is it in?

Kissan is the object of the verb and is marked in the accusative case. In Finnish, definite objects that complete an action take the accusative form, and for many singular nouns, the accusative looks identical to the genitive form. This marking indicates that a specific cat is being referred to.

What role does ulkona play in the sentence, and why is it positioned at the end?

Ulkona functions as an adverb modifying the verb, meaning “outside.” It provides information about where the action takes place. Although Finnish word order is flexible due to its rich inflectional system, adverbs of place often appear at the end of the sentence, which is why ulkona is placed there.

Could the sentence be rearranged or modified, for example, by omitting the subject pronoun or changing the word order without changing the overall meaning?

Yes, Finnish allows for a flexible word order. For instance, you can omit the subject pronoun Minä because the verb löydän already indicates the first-person singular. This would result in Löydän kissan ulkona. Additionally, while the standard order is subject–verb–object–adverb, rearranging parts of the sentence is possible when you want to emphasize a particular element, though doing so might slightly alter the stylistic nuance.