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Questions & Answers about Jääkaappi vuotaa vettä.
Why is vettä in the partitive case instead of the nominative vesi?
The partitive case (vettä) is used when referring to an indefinite or incomplete amount, or when describing an ongoing process. Many verbs like vuotaa (“to leak/flow”) require their object in the partitive when the action is continuous or the quantity is not limited. Here, vettä shows that water is leaking continuously, not that a fixed amount of water is involved.
How do articles work in Finnish? Why isn’t there a word for “the” or “a” before jääkaappi?
Finnish does not use articles like English does. Definiteness and indefiniteness are inferred from context or clarified with demonstratives (e.g., tämä “this,” se “that”) if needed. In Jääkaappi vuotaa vettä, the absence of an article still clearly conveys “The refrigerator is leaking water.”
What is the basic word order in this sentence, and can it change?
The neutral word order is Subject–Verb–Object (SVO): Jääkaappi (subject) vuotaa (verb) vettä (object). Finnish word order is relatively free, so you can rearrange elements to shift emphasis—for example, Vettä vuotaa jääkaapista to highlight what is leaking.
How is jääkaappi built up, and what do the parts mean?
Jääkaappi is a compound of jää (“ice”) and kaappi (“cabinet” or “cupboard”). Literally “ice cabinet,” it’s the standard Finnish term for “refrigerator.”
Why isn’t there a preposition like “from” in this sentence to show where the water is coming from?
Finnish expresses relationships with case endings rather than prepositions. To explicitly say “from the fridge,” you’d use the elative case –sta/–stä: Vettä vuotaa jääkaapista (“Water is leaking from the fridge”). In the original sentence the source is implied.
What exactly does vuotaa mean, and is it transitive or intransitive?
Vuotaa means “to leak,” “to flow,” or even “to bleed.” It can be treated as transitive when you mention what is leaking (taking a partitive object, e.g. vettä) or intransitive when you focus on the act of leaking itself. Here it’s used transitively with the partitive.
How do you pronounce jääkaappi, especially the double vowels and consonants?
Finnish always stresses the first syllable, so you stress JÄÄ in jääkaappi. The double ää is a long vowel (held roughly twice as long as a), and the double pp is a long consonant (held longer than a single p).
Can I say this in a different order, for example starting with Vettä?
Yes. Finnish is flexible about word order. Vettä vuotaa jääkaapista shifts the focus to “Water is leaking from the fridge,” while Jääkaapista vuotaa vettä emphasizes the source. All convey essentially the same situation.