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Questions & Answers about Neuvottelu alkaa huomenna.
What does neuvottelu mean?
Neuvottelu literally means negotiation or consultation, but in everyday Finnish it’s often used for a formal meeting or talks between parties.
Why is there no article (“a” or “the”) before neuvottelu?
Finnish does not have grammatical articles. Context tells you whether it’s a specific meeting or any meeting. If you really need to say “a negotiation,” you can add yksi (“one”): Yksi neuvottelu alkaa huomenna (“A negotiation starts tomorrow”).
What case is neuvottelu in, and why?
It’s in the nominative singular because it’s the subject of the sentence. In Finnish, the subject of an intransitive verb stays in the nominative case.
What type of word is huomenna, and what does it mean?
Huomenna is a temporal adverb meaning “tomorrow.” It doesn’t change for case or number; you just use it to indicate time.
Why is the verb alkaa in the present tense, even though it refers to the future?
Finnish does not have a separate future tense. The present tense (here alkaa) is used for both present and future actions. Context or a time word like huomenna makes it clear you’re talking about tomorrow.
How would you ask “When does the negotiation start?” in Finnish?
You use the question word milloin (“when”) and keep the same subject–verb order for information questions:
Milloin neuvottelu alkaa?
How do you form the negative version of “Neuvottelu alkaa huomenna” (“The negotiation doesn’t start tomorrow”)?
Use the negative verb ei with the main verb in the personal form (here, the impersonal form alka- + personal ending -a):
Neuvottelu ei ala huomenna.
What is the past tense form of alkaa?
The past (imperfect) is alkoi. So “The negotiation started yesterday” would be Neuvottelu alkoi eilen.
How do you make this sentence plural: “Negotiations start tomorrow”?
Plural subject requires plural verb:
Neuvottelut alkavat huomenna.
Here neuvottelut is nominative plural and alkavat is the 3rd-person plural of alkaa.
Can you change the word order to Huomenna neuvottelu alkaa? Does it change the meaning?
Yes. Finnish word order is relatively free.
Neuvottelu alkaa huomenna. and Huomenna neuvottelu alkaa.
both mean “The negotiation starts tomorrow.” Placing huomenna first only adds emphasis to when it happens.