Minä haen ruokaa kaupasta.

I get food from the store.

Breakdown of Minä haen ruokaa kaupasta.

• minä: I
• kauppa: the store
• ruoka: the food
• -sta: from
• hakea: to get

Questions & Answers about Minä haen ruokaa kaupasta.

Why is ruokaa in the partitive case instead of ruoka?

In this sentence you’re fetching an unspecified amount of food (“some food”), so Finnish uses the partitive case to mark an indefinite or incomplete object.

• Base form: ruoka (“food”)
• Partitive: ruokaa (“some food”)

The partitive is also common with verbs that express acquiring or consuming an indeterminate quantity.

Why is kaupasta used instead of kauppa?

You need the elative case to express motion “from” a place.

• Nominative: kauppa (“store”)
• Elative: kaupasta (“from the store”)

Finnish adds -sta/-stä to show movement out of somewhere, so kaupasta literally means “out of the store.”

How do you get haen from the infinitive hakea?

1. hakea is a type I verb ending in -ea/-eä.
2. Drop the final -a → hake-.
3. Add the first-person singular ending -n → haken.
4. Apply consonant gradation: k weakens to Ø → haen.

So hakea (“to fetch”) becomes haen (“I fetch”).

Is the pronoun minä necessary in Minä haen ruokaa kaupasta?

No, Finnish is a pro-drop language. The verb ending -n already indicates first person singular, so you can simply say:

• Haen ruokaa kaupasta.

Including minä adds emphasis (“I am the one fetching food,” perhaps in contrast to someone else).

Does Finnish follow strict SVO word order, like English?

Finnish word order is flexible because case endings mark grammatical roles. The neutral order is Subject-Verb-Object:

• Minä haen ruokaa kaupasta.

But you can rearrange for emphasis:

• Haen kaupasta ruokaa. (Highlights what you’re fetching.)
• Kaupasta haen ruokaa. (Highlights where you’re fetching it from.)
• Ruokaa haen kaupasta. (Highlights food itself.)

What’s the difference between haen and ostan in this context?

• haen = “I fetch/get/bring” – doesn’t necessarily imply purchase. You might be picking up groceries someone else ordered or bringing food home.
• ostan = “I buy/purchase.” If you want to stress that you are buying the food, use Ostan ruokaa kaupasta.

Choose haen when the focus is on the act of fetching, ostan when it’s on buying.

How do you pronounce haen, ruokaa, and kaupasta?

Approximate guides in English sounds:

• haen: HAH-en (the ae like the “a” in “cat” plus a quick “en”)
• ruokaa: RUO-kaa-ah (“ruo” as in “roo-oh,” then long “aa” like “ahh”)
• kaupasta: KOW-pahs-tah (“au” as in “cow,” “pa” as in “pah,” “sta” as in “stah”)

How would you ask “Where are you fetching food from?” in Finnish?

Use the question word mistä (“from where”):

• Mistä haet ruokaa? (“Where do you fetch food from?”)
  And reply:
• (Minä) haen ruokaa kaupasta.