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Questions & Answers about Minä siivoan huoneen.
Why is Minä included in the sentence?
Minä is the personal pronoun for “I.” Finnish verbs already carry subject information through their endings, so Minä is optional. It’s used here for clarity or emphasis.
Can I drop Minä and just say Siivoan huoneen?
Yes. The verb ending -an on siivoan tells you the subject is “I.” Omitting Minä is common in everyday Finnish.
What is the base form (infinitive) of siivoan, and what verb type is it?
The infinitive is siivota. It belongs to type I verbs, which in the infinitive end in -ta or -tä.
How do you form the first person singular present tense for this verb?
For type I verbs like siivota:
- Remove -ta to get the stem siivo-
- Add -an for the first person singular
Result: siivo- -an = siivoan
Why does huoneen end with -n? Is that the genitive?
Here huoneen is in the accusative case, marking a complete, definite direct object (“the room”). In Finnish, the singular accusative of nouns like huone looks identical to the genitive. It’s not possession; it shows you’re cleaning the whole room.
How could I say “I am cleaning a room” instead of “the room”?
Use the partitive case for an indefinite or incomplete object. Change huoneen to huonetta:
• (Minä) siivoan huonetta.
Does Finnish have articles like “a” or “the”?
No. Finnish doesn’t use separate words for articles. Context, word order, and case endings convey whether something is definite or indefinite.