Kahvilassa kuuluu rauhallista musiikkia.

You can hear peaceful music in the café.

Breakdown of Kahvilassa kuuluu rauhallista musiikkia.

• rauhallinen: peaceful
• musiikki: the music
• kuulua: to be heard
• kahvilassa: in the café

Questions & Answers about Kahvilassa kuuluu rauhallista musiikkia.

What does kahvilassa mean and why does it end with -ssa?

kahvila means “café.” The suffix -ssa is the inessive case marker in Finnish, indicating “inside” or “in.” So kahvilassa literally means “in the café.”

Why is there no explicit subject in the sentence?

The verb kuulua in this context is impersonal. It doesn’t take a grammatical subject. The idea is “One hears” or “It can be heard,” so you just conjugate kuulua in the third person singular and omit any subject.

What exactly does kuuluu mean here?

kuuluu is the third-person singular present tense of kuulua, which means “to be heard” or “to belong,” but in this context it means “is heard.” So kuuluu rauhallista musiikkia = “(some) calm music is heard.”

Why is rau hallista musiikkia in the partitive case?

In Finnish, when you talk about hearing or perceiving an indefinite amount of something (like “some music”), you put the object in the partitive case. That’s why musiikki becomes musiikkia, and its adjective rau hallinen also takes the partitive ending -a: rau hallista musiikkia = “some calm music.”

Could you flip the word order? For example, Rauhallista musiikkia kuuluu kahvilassa?

Yes. Finnish word order is flexible. Putting rauha­llista musiikkia first emphasizes the music; putting kahvilassa first emphasizes the location. The core meaning stays the same.

What’s the difference between kuulua and kuulla?

kuulua means “to be heard” or “to belong” and is used impersonally (no subject).
kuulla means “to hear” (to actively listen) and requires a subject (e.g. Minä kuulen musiikkia = “I hear music”).

Why is there double l in rau hallista?

The base adjective is rau hallinen (“calm”). In Finnish, many adjectives and nouns double the consonant when adding a suffix to maintain the correct pronunciation and length of the sound. Here, -inen drops off and -ista (partitive of -inen) attaches, keeping the ll.

Can you replace rau hallista with another adjective in partitive—for example, “loud music”?

Yes. If you want “loud music,” you say kova musiikki in the nominative, but in partitive it becomes kovaa musiikkia. So: Kahvilassa kuuluu kovaa musiikkia = “Loud music is heard in the café.”