Bussi menee sillan yli.

to go

Breakdown of Bussi menee sillan yli.

• bussi: the bus
• silta: the bridge
• yli: over

Questions & Answers about Bussi menee sillan yli.

Why is sillan in the genitive case and not in the nominative?

Because yli is a postposition that requires its complement to be in the genitive. In Finnish, words like yli (over, across) follow the noun and govern the genitive case to show movement across something.

What kind of word is yli? Is it a preposition like in English?

Finnish doesn’t have prepositions in the English sense but uses postpositions. Yli is a postposition, so it comes after the noun instead of before it (unlike English “over”).

Why isn’t sillan in the partitive case? English doesn’t mark case, so I’m confused.

The partitive case in Finnish marks incomplete actions, indefinite quantities, or ongoing aspects. Here sillan isn’t an object being affected by the verb but the target of the postposition yli, so it takes the genitive, not the partitive.

Could I say bussi kulkee sillan yli instead of bussi menee sillan yli? What’s the difference?

Yes. Kulkea (“to traverse, pass along”) and mennä (“to go”) both express movement.

• Bussi kulkee sillan yli often appears in route descriptions or timetables (emphasizes the route).
• Bussi menee sillan yli is more general and simply states that the bus goes over the bridge.

Can I use ylitse instead of here?