Minä tarvitsen muistutuksen ennen kokousta.

I need a reminder before the meeting.

Breakdown of Minä tarvitsen muistutuksen ennen kokousta.

• minä: I
• tarvita: to need
• ennen: before
• kokous: the meeting
• muistutus: the reminder

Questions & Answers about Minä tarvitsen muistutuksen ennen kokousta.

Why is Minä included at the beginning? Do I have to use it?

In Finnish, the verb ending already shows the subject, so you can drop the pronoun.
– Minä tarvitsen muistutuksen… is emphatic or used for clarity.
– More commonly you’d say Tarvitsen muistutuksen ennen kokousta.

What does tarvitsen mean and how is it formed?

tarvitsen is the 1st person singular present tense of the verb tarvita, “to need.”
– Verb stem: tarvit-
– Ending for “I” in present: -sen
So tarvitsen = “I need.”

Why is the object muistutuksen in the -n form instead of the partitive muistutusta?

Finnish distinguishes between partial/indefinite objects (partitive) and complete/definite objects (accusative/Genitive).
– Partitive (muistutusta) implies “some reminder” or an incomplete action.
– Accusative (muistutuksen) treats the reminder as a specific, whole thing you need.

What is muistutus, and how is that noun formed?

muistutus means “reminder.” It’s built from the verb muistuttaa (“to remind”) plus the noun-forming suffix -us, which turns a verb into “the act or result of.”
– muistuttaa → muistutus (“the act of reminding” / “reminder”)

Why do we say ennen kokousta rather than ennen kokous or ennen kokouksen?

The preposition ennen always governs the partitive case.
– kokous (nom.) → kokousta (partitive)
So ennen kokousta = “before (the) meeting.”

Could I move ennen kokousta to the front of the sentence?

Yes. Time expressions are flexible in Finnish. Putting it first adds emphasis on “before the meeting”:
Ennen kokousta tarvitsen muistutuksen.

Is there any nuance between “I need a reminder” in English and tarvitsen muistutuksen in Finnish?

The nuance is similar, but Finnish doesn’t use an auxiliary verb. You simply say tarvitsen rather than “I do need.” The focus is on the direct main verb, making the statement more compact.