Minä odotan bussia pysäkillä.

I

Breakdown of Minä odotan bussia pysäkillä.

• odottaa: to wait for
• bussi: the bus
• -llä: at

Questions & Answers about Minä odotan bussia pysäkillä.

Why is Minä used here? Can I drop it?

In Finnish the verb ending -n in odotan already tells you the subject is I (first person singular). Including Minä is optional and adds emphasis or clarity. You can perfectly say “Odotan bussia pysäkillä.” and it still means “I’m waiting for a bus at the stop.”

What does odotan mean and how is it formed?

Odotan is the first person singular present tense of the verb odottaa (to wait). You take the stem odota- and add -n to mark I:
• odota- (stem) + ‑n (1st person singular) → odotan = “I wait” / “I’m waiting.”

Why isn’t there an English-style preposition like “for” before bussia?

Finnish doesn’t use separate prepositions as English does. Instead, it uses noun cases. Here, the partitive case ending -a on bussi (→ bussia) carries the meaning of English “for” in this context.

Why is bussi in the partitive case (bussia) instead of the nominative (bussi)?