Breakdown of Kävin pitkän keskustelun opettajani kanssa.
minä
I
minun
my
kanssa
with
pitkä
long
opettaja
the teacher
käydä keskustelua
to have a conversation
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Questions & Answers about Kävin pitkän keskustelun opettajani kanssa.
Why is pitkän used instead of pitkä?
Because the noun keskustelun is in the singular accusative (identical in form to the genitive), and Finnish adjectives agree with their nouns in case, number and definiteness. So pitkä keskustelu (“long conversation”) becomes pitkän keskustelun in the accusative singular.
What case is keskustelun, and why is that case used?
keskustelun is the singular accusative (which looks like the genitive). Here it marks a complete, whole object of the verb kävin (“I had/held”). If you wanted to emphasize an indefinite or ongoing portion you would use the partitive: pitkää keskustelua.
Why aren’t there articles like “a” or “the”? How do I know if it’s indefinite or definite?
Finnish doesn’t have articles. You rely on context, word order or demonstratives to show definiteness. pitkän keskustelun can mean either “a long conversation” or “the long conversation” depending on what you’ve already said or the situation.
Why is it opettajani instead of just opettaja?
opettajani = opettaja (“teacher”) + possessive suffix -ni (“my”). In Finnish you normally attach a possessive suffix directly to the noun to show “my,” “your,” etc.
Why doesn’t opettajani take a case ending before kanssa?
kanssa is a postposition (works like an English preposition but goes after the noun) and it requires the noun to stay in its base (nominative) form. So you leave opettajani as is and simply follow it with kanssa.
What does kanssa mean?
kanssa means with. It comes after the noun: opettajani kanssa = with my teacher.
Why use the verb kävin? Doesn’t that literally mean “I went”?
True, kävin is the past of käydä (“to go/visit”), but in Finnish you also use käydä to mean “to have/hold” certain events—meetings, conversations, talks. So kävin keskustelun = “I had a conversation.”
Could I instead say Keskustelin pitkään opettajani kanssa?
Yes. keskustella is “to converse/discuss.” So Keskustelin pitkään opettajani kanssa means “I talked for a long time with my teacher.” You don’t need the noun keskustelu because the verb itself carries the meaning.
How would you express having several long conversations?
Use the plural partitive: Kävin pitkiä keskusteluja opettajani kanssa = “I had many long conversations with my teacher.”
Is the word order fixed in Finnish?
No, Finnish word order is quite flexible. You could also say Opettajani kanssa kävin pitkän keskustelun or Pitkän keskustelun kävin opettajani kanssa. Moving elements changes the emphasis but not the basic meaning.