Sataa, mutta minä olen kotona.

It rains, but I am at home.

Breakdown of Sataa, mutta minä olen kotona.

• minä: I
• olla: to be
• kotona: at home
• mutta: but
• sataa: to rain

Questions & Answers about Sataa, mutta minä olen kotona.

Why does the Finnish sentence “Sataa, mutta minä olen kotona” omit an explicit subject in the first clause?

In Finnish, weather verbs like sataa are used impersonally. There’s no need for a subject like “it” because the verb itself conveys the idea that it’s raining. This is a common feature in weather expressions.

What function does the conjunction mutta serve in this sentence?

The conjunction mutta means “but” in English. It connects two independent clauses and sets up a contrast between the weather condition expressed in the first clause and the speaker’s situation described in the second clause.

Even though Finnish often omits subject pronouns, why is minä explicitly used in the second clause?

Although Finnish allows subject pronouns to be dropped thanks to clear verb conjugations, including minä (meaning “I”) adds emphasis and clarity. It highlights that the speaker, specifically, is at home, which strengthens the contrast introduced by mutta.

How does the word kotona indicate location, and what grammatical case is used?

The term kotona means “at home” and is expressed in the adessive case. The adessive case is used in Finnish to denote location or the state of being “at” a place, effectively replacing the need for a preposition like “at” in English.

Is the word order in this sentence significant, and how does it contribute to its meaning?

While Finnish generally has a flexible word order, the sentence’s structure here clearly separates two contrasting ideas. The first clause (Sataa) describes an external, impersonal condition, and the second clause (minä olen kotona) focuses on the speaker’s personal state. This order emphasizes the contrast between the weather and the speaker’s situation.