Puhelin soi kesken kokouksen.

The phone rings in the middle of the meeting.

Breakdown of Puhelin soi kesken kokouksen.

• puhelin: the phone
• kokous: the meeting
• soida: to ring
• kesken: in the middle of

Questions & Answers about Puhelin soi kesken kokouksen.

What part of speech is kesken in kesken kokouksen, and what does it mean?

Kesken is a postposition (a kind of adposition that comes after its complement). It means “in the middle of” or “during,” emphasizing that something happens as an ongoing process is going on.

Why is kokouksen in this form, and which case is it?

After the postposition kesken, the noun takes the genitive case. Here kokous (“meeting”) becomes kokouksen (genitive singular), so kesken kokouksen literally “in-the-middle-of the meeting.”

Could I use the inessive kokouksessa instead of kesken kokouksen?

Yes, Puhelin soi kokouksessa is correct and means “The phone rings in the meeting.” But kesken kokouksen highlights that the ringing interrupts the meeting—it focuses on the action happening mid-process.

What is the verb form soi, and why not soittaa?

Soi is the 3rd person singular present of the intransitive verb soida (“to ring,” “to sound”). Soittaa is a different (transitive) verb meaning “to call” or “to play” (an instrument), so you don’t use it for “the phone rings.”

Why is there no article before puhelin (“phone”)? How do I know if it’s “a phone” or “the phone”?

Finnish has no articles. Context tells you whether it’s specific or general. If you want to say “the phone” more explicitly, you can add a demonstrative (tämä puhelin = “this phone”) or a possessive suffix (puhelimeni = “my phone”).

Why is puhelin explicitly stated? Can it be dropped?

You drop pronouns in Finnish when they’re clear, but dropping a noun subject usually makes things unclear. Here puhelin is new information, so it remains. Omitting it would sound odd unless the listener already knows you’re talking about the phone.

Can I change the word order, for example Kesken kokouksen puhelin soi?

Yes. Finnish word order is flexible. Starting with Kesken kokouksen shifts emphasis to the time (“During the meeting…”), while Puhelin first emphasizes the subject (“The phone…”). The core meaning stays the same.

What’s the difference between kesken kokouksen and keskellä kokousta?

Both can mean “in the middle of the meeting,” but:

• Kesken
  • genitive stresses that the meeting is ongoing and something interrupts it.
• Keskellä
  • partitive (kokousta) paints a more “amidst” or spatial picture. In practice, kesken kokouksen is far more common for interruptions.

Does kesken ever change form if I talk about multiple meetings, like “during the meetings”?

Kesken itself doesn’t inflect. You would inflect the noun: kesken kokousten (genitive plural) = “during the meetings.”