Breakdown of Illallinen keskeytyi, kun puhelin soi.
kun
when
puhelin
the phone
illallinen
the dinner
soida
to ring
Questions & Answers about Illallinen keskeytyi, kun puhelin soi.
Why is illallinen in the nominative case? Shouldn't “dinner” be marked in a different case since it's being interrupted?
In Finnish, the subject of an intransitive verb takes the nominative case. Here, illallinen is the subject of the intransitive verb keskeytyä (“to be interrupted”), so it stays in the nominative. We’re saying “the dinner got interrupted,” not “we interrupted the dinner.”
Is keskeytyi a passive form? I thought passive verbs end in -t or -ttiin.
No. Keskeytyi is the 3rd person singular past tense (preterite) of the intransitive verb keskeytyä (“to be interrupted”). It’s active voice. The Finnish transitive passive of keskeyttää would be keskeytettiin (“dinner was interrupted [by someone]”), but that has a different meaning and construction.
What’s the difference between keskeytyä and keskeyttää?
Keskeyttää is transitive—“to interrupt” (someone actively does the interrupting) and takes a direct object.
Keskeytyä is intransitive—“to be interrupted” or “to come to an interruption.” It doesn’t take a direct object; its subject is the thing that gets interrupted.
Why is kun used here, and how is it different from kuin or koska?