Breakdown of Huomaan, että jääkaappi on tyhjä, joten menen kauppaan ostamaan maitoa.
olla
to be
mennä
to go
kauppa
the store
ostaa
to buy
joten
so
huomata
to notice
että
that
tyhjä
empty
jääkaappi
the refrigerator
maito
the milk
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Questions & Answers about Huomaan, että jääkaappi on tyhjä, joten menen kauppaan ostamaan maitoa.
What does Huomaan mean, and how is it conjugated?
Huomaan comes from the verb huomata (“to notice”). Here it’s in the present tense, first-person singular: minä huomaan means “I notice.”
Why is there a comma before että, and what does että do?
In Finnish, you set off subordinate clauses with a comma. että is the conjunction “that,” introducing the clause että jääkaappi on tyhjä (“that the fridge is empty”).
Why is jääkaappi in the nominative case, not jääkaappia?
jääkaappi is the subject of the subordinate clause, and subjects normally take the nominative. There’s no partitive or other case marking because it’s not an object here.
Why is tyhjä used without any endings?
tyhjä is a predicative adjective linked by the verb olla (“to be”). Predicative adjectives agree in case with their subject (nominative here) but don’t take extra endings beyond that.
What does joten mean, and why is there a comma before it?
joten means “so” or “therefore,” showing consequence. Finnish uses a comma to separate clauses joined by joten, just as with many other conjunctions that introduce a new clause.
Why is kauppaan in the illative (allative) case?
kauppa means “store/shop.” The ending -an marks the illative (sometimes called allative) case, which expresses “into” or movement toward: menen kauppaan = “I go into (toward) the store.”
What is ostamaan, and why isn’t it the plain form ostaa?
ostamaan is the third infinitive in the illative case, used to express purpose. So menen kauppaan ostamaan maitoa literally means “I go to the store in order to buy milk,” not simply “I go to buy milk.”
Why is maitoa in the partitive case, not maito?
maitoa is the partitive form of maito (“milk”). The partitive is used here because you’re talking about an indefinite amount and the action of buying is not viewed as a single, completed whole but as acquiring some milk.
Could you rephrase Huomaan, että jääkaappi on tyhjä without että?
Yes. You could say Huomaan jääkaapin olevan tyhjän, using the object-infinitive construction huomata + object (accusative) + oleminen. It’s more formal/concise and drops the conjunction että.
What’s the difference between menen kauppaan ostamaan maitoa and menen kauppaan ja ostan maitoa?
Menen kauppaan ostamaan maitoa emphasizes purpose: “I go to the store in order to buy milk.”
Menen kauppaan ja ostan maitoa simply links two actions: “I go to the store, and I buy milk,” without stressing the purpose link.