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Questions & Answers about Minä kannan ruokaa keittiöön.
Do I have to include Minä in the sentence, or can it be omitted?
In Finnish the verb ending already shows who is doing the action. Kannan ruokaa keittiöön alone means “I carry food to the kitchen.” You add Minä only for emphasis or contrast (e.g. “I—not someone else—carry the food”).
What is the infinitive form of kannan, and why does it have two n letters?
The infinitive is kantaa (“to carry”). To make the first-person singular present, you drop -a → kant- and add -an → kantan. Because of consonant gradation/assimilation, ntan simplifies to nnan, giving kannan.
Why is ruokaa in the partitive case instead of the nominative ruoka?
Finnish uses the partitive for objects when the action is incomplete, ongoing or involves an indefinite quantity. Here you’re carrying “some food,” not the whole dish as a finished product. Hence ruokaa (partitive) instead of ruoka (nominative).
What case is keittiöön, and how is it formed?
Keittiöön is the illative case of keittiö (“kitchen”), meaning “into the kitchen.” You form the illative by lengthening the final vowel and adding -n. For keittiö that gives keittiöö + n = keittiöön.
Does Finnish have a separate continuous tense like English “I am carrying”?
No. Finnish uses the same present tense for both “I carry” and “I am carrying.” Context tells you whether the action is habitual or in progress.
Is word order flexible in Finnish? Could I say Ruokaa kannan keittiöön?
Yes, Finnish word order is relatively free. The unmarked order is Subject–Verb–Object–Adverbial (SVOA): Minä kannan ruokaa keittiöön. Putting ruokaa first (Object–Verb–... ) is fine: Ruokaa kannan keittiöön emphasizes “food.” Too much scrambling can sound poetic or marked, though.
How do you pronounce the double vowels and umlauts in keittiöön?
Break it into syllables: KEIT-ti-öön. The ö is a front-rounded vowel (like German ö in schön). The double ö is simply a long ö sound. Stress always falls on the first syllable: KEIT-ti-öön.