Veljeni myöhästyy harvoin tärkeästä tapaamisesta.

My brother is rarely late for an important meeting.

Breakdown of Veljeni myöhästyy harvoin tärkeästä tapaamisesta.

• minun: my
• tapaaminen: the meeting
• tärkeä: important
• harvoin: rarely
• veli: the brother
• myöhästyä: to be late

Questions & Answers about Veljeni myöhästyy harvoin tärkeästä tapaamisesta.

What does the suffix -ni in veljeni mean?

In Finnish, possession is often marked by a suffix on the noun. The -ni on veli (brother) means my. So veljeni literally is my brother.

Why is the verb myöhästyy used here, and what is its base form?

The base form is myöhästyä, meaning to be late (for something). Myöhästyy is the 3rd person singular present tense, so it means he/she/it is late or (my brother) is late.

What kind of adverb is harvoin, and why is it placed after the verb?

Harvoin means rarely and is an adverb of frequency. Finnish word order is quite flexible, but a common pattern is Subject – Verb – Adverb – Object. Placing harvoin after the verb emphasizes how often the action happens.

Why is tärkeästä tapaamisesta in the elative case (ending -sta) and not another case?

The verb myöhästyä governs the elative case, which is marked -sta/-stä. While English says late for something, Finnish thinks of it as late from something, hence the elative: tärkeästä tapaamisesta = from an important meeting (i.e. for an important meeting).

Why does the adjective tärkeä also take -stä to become tärkeästä?

In Finnish, adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in case and number. Since tapaamisesta is elative singular, tärkeä must also be in the elative singular form tärkeästä.

Could I rearrange the sentence and still be correct?

Yes. Finnish has flexible word order. For example:
Harvoin veljeni myöhästyy tärkeästä tapaamisesta.
This still means My brother rarely is late for an important meeting, with a slight shift in emphasis.

How would I say this in the past tense?

Use the past tense form myöhästyi. For example:
Veljeni myöhästyi harvoin tärkeästä tapaamisesta.
= My brother was rarely late for an important meeting.

Can I use olla myöhässä instead of myöhästyä?

You can say Veljeni on harvoin myöhässä, meaning My brother is rarely late, but you normally omit the specific event. If you want to keep tärkeästä tapaamisesta, it’s more natural with myöhästyä.

Is there any nuance difference between myöhästyy tärkeästä tapaamisesta and myöhästyy tärkeään tapaamiseen?

Yes. Myöhästyä jostakin (elative) means be late for (the start of something). The illative tärkeään tapaamiseen would imply being late into or arriving late to join. Commonly, you use the elative with myöhästyä to talk about missing the beginning of a scheduled event.