Minä kuulin kuiskauksen ulkona.

I heard a whisper outside.

Breakdown of Minä kuulin kuiskauksen ulkona.

• minä: I
• ulkona: outside
• kuulla: to hear
• kuiskaus: the whisper

Questions & Answers about Minä kuulin kuiskauksen ulkona.

Why is Minä used at the beginning? Do I always have to say it?

Minä means “I” and marks the subject. Finnish is a pro-drop language, so you can omit it when context is clear.
Example without pronoun: Kuulin kuiskauksen ulkona.
Including Minä adds clarity or emphasis (“I, personally, heard…”).

What does kuulin mean and how is this form created?

kuulin is the first-person singular imperfect (simple past) of kuulla (“to hear”).
Formation: take the stem kuul-, insert the past marker -i-, and add the personal ending -n → kuul-i-n.

Why does kuiskauksen end in -n? What case is this?

kuiskauksen is the accusative (often called genitive) singular of kuiskaus (“whisper”).
With telic verbs like kuulla, a complete, specific object takes the accusative/genitive -n ending. It signals you heard that entire whisper.

Could I say kuiskausta instead of kuiskauksen?

Yes. kuiskausta is the partitive singular. It implies hearing “some whisper” in an indefinite or incomplete sense.
Using kuiskauksen (accusative) treats it as a definite, fully heard whisper.

What case is ulkona and why isn’t there a preposition?

ulkona is the essive/adverbial form (suffix -na/-nä) of ulko-. It functions as an adverb meaning “outside.”
Finnish uses cases instead of prepositions, so “in/at the outside” becomes simply ulkona.

Can I change the word order to emphasize something?

Yes. Finnish word order is flexible. Examples:
Ulkona kuulin kuiskauksen. (Emphasizes that it was outside)
Kuiskauksen kuulin ulkona. (Emphasizes the whisper)

Why use the imperfect kuulin instead of a perfect like olen kuullut?

Imperfect (kuulin) describes a simple past event.
Perfect (olen kuullut) connects the past event to the present (“I have heard”), often implying relevance now. If you’re just stating “I heard…” in the past, use the imperfect.

How do I pronounce kuulin and kuiskauksen?

kuulin: [ˈkuu.lin] – “kuu” like English “coo,” “lin” as in “lean” without the ‘ea.’
kuiskauksen: [ˈkui̯s.ka.­ku.en] – “kui” like in “quick” without the k, “skau” with “au” as in “loud,” ending “en.”