Word
Puhelin putosi eilen.
Meaning
The phone fell yesterday.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
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Questions & Answers about Puhelin putosi eilen.
What case is puhelin in, and why is there no article like the or a?
Puhelin is in the nominative singular (the basic form for the subject). Finnish does not use definite or indefinite articles; context or word order tells you whether something is “a” or “the.”
What is the infinitive form of putosi, and what does it mean?
The dictionary (infinitive) form is pudota, meaning “to fall.”
How is the past tense formed in putosi?
putosi is the 3rd person singular past indicative. You start with the verb stem puto-, add the past tense marker -i-, and then the personal ending -si.
Why does pudota become putosi instead of something like pudosi?
Because of consonant gradation: the strong-grade d in pudota weakens to t in certain forms, so you get the stem puto- rather than pudo-.
Can I move eilen to the front of the sentence? For example, “Eilen puhelin putosi.”
Yes. Finnish word order is quite flexible. Placing eilen first emphasizes the time but doesn’t change the core meaning.
How do I ask “Did the phone fall yesterday?” in Finnish?
Use the question particle -ko attached to the verb:
Putosiko puhelin eilen?
How do I say “The phone did not fall yesterday” in Finnish?
Use the negative auxiliary ei plus the past connegative (which looks like the past participle):
Puhelin ei pudonnut eilen.
Why don’t we use the perfect tense here, like Puhelin on pudonnut eilen?
In Finnish, if you specify a concrete time (like eilen), you normally use the simple past (putosi). The perfect (on pudonnut) is reserved for general or unspecified time frames (e.g. “tässä kuussa”).
How would I say “Phones fell yesterday” (plural)?
Make the subject plural puhelimet and use the 3rd person plural past putosivat:
Puhelimet putosivat eilen.