Breakdown of Minä vastaan puhelimeen kesken kokouksen.
minä
I
puhelin
the phone
kokous
the meeting
vastata
to answer
kesken
in the middle of
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Finnish grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Minä vastaan puhelimeen kesken kokouksen.
What is the meaning and grammatical role of vastaan in the sentence?
Vastaan is the first person singular present tense form of the verb vastata, which means “to answer” or “to respond.” In this sentence, it literally means “I answer.”
Why is Minä used at the beginning? Can it be omitted?
In Finnish, subject pronouns like minä (“I”) are optional because the verb ending (-n in vastaan) already tells you it’s first person singular. It’s included here for emphasis or clarity. You could simply say Vastaan puhelimeen kesken kokouksen and it would still be correct.
Why is puhelimeen in the illative case instead of nominative or partitive?
The illative case (–seen, here puhelimeen) expresses “into” or “onto” something. With vastata, Finnish uses the illative to indicate the thing you are answering. So vastaan puhelimeen literally means “I answer into the phone,” i.e. “I answer the phone.”
What does kesken kokouksen mean, and why is kokouksen in the genitive?
Kesken plus a genitive noun means “in the middle of.” The genitive case (kokouksen) marks the event or period you are interrupting. So kesken kokouksen means “in the middle of a meeting.”
Could you switch the order of these phrases, for example placing kesken kokouksen first?
Yes, Finnish word order is fairly flexible. You could say Kesken kokouksen vastaan puhelimeen to emphasize that it happened during the meeting. The overall meaning stays the same, though the focus shifts slightly depending on what you put first.
Is there a more colloquial way to say “answer the phone” in Finnish?
Yes. Informally, people often say vastaan puhelimeen or shorten it to vastaan puhelimeen. Another option is otan puhelun (“I take the call”), though vastaan puhelimeen is the most common.
Why not use the partitive puhelinta with vastata?
Vastata never takes the partitive for the thing you answer; it requires the illative. The partitive puhelinta would imply an incomplete or ongoing action on the phone itself, which doesn’t fit “answering the phone.”
Can kesken be used with other cases or verbs?
No, kesken always takes the genitive to mean “amidst” or “during.” You can use it with other activities: kesken työn (“in the middle of work”), kesken elokuvan (“during the movie”), etc. The pattern is always kesken + genitive.