Minä kävelen tiellä.

I

Breakdown of Minä kävelen tiellä.

• kävellä: to walk
• -llä: on
• tie: the road

Questions & Answers about Minä kävelen tiellä.

What does each word in "Minä kävelen tiellä" mean?

In this sentence, Minä means I, kävelen is the first person singular present form of the verb kävellä (to walk), and tiellä is the noun tie (road) in the adessive case, indicating the location "on the road."

Why is the subject pronoun Minä included when the verb already indicates the subject?

In Finnish, the verb ending shows who is performing the action, which makes the subject pronoun optional. Beginners often include Minä for clarity or emphasis, although experienced speakers might omit it in everyday conversation.

What is the role of the adessive case in the word tiellä?

The adessive case (formed by adding the suffix -llä/-llä) is used to express location, similar to the English preposition "on" or "at." Here, tiellä specifies that the walking is happening on the road.

How is the verb kävellä conjugated in this sentence and what does its ending indicate?

The verb kävellä is conjugated in the present tense for the first person singular, yielding kävelen. The ending -en clearly signals that the subject is I, which is why the explicit subject pronoun Minä is optional but can be included for emphasis.

Why is there no separate word for "on" in the sentence?

Finnish does not use prepositions like English does for many locational concepts. Instead, it employs cases such as the adessive. In tiellä, the case ending -llä fulfills the role of the English word "on," indicating location without needing an extra word.

Is the word order in Finnish similar to English in this sentence?

Yes, in this simple sentence the order is quite similar: subject (Minä), verb (kävelen), and then the locational complement (tiellä). However, Finnish word order is generally more flexible, allowing variations for emphasis or stylistic reasons while still conveying the correct meaning.