Breakdown of Pieni vitsi keventää kokousta.
pieni
small
kokous
the meeting
vitsi
the joke
keventää
to lighten
Questions & Answers about Pieni vitsi keventää kokousta.
What does keventää mean and how is it used here?
The verb keventää means to lighten or to make lighter. In this sentence it shows that a small joke makes the meeting less serious or heavy.
Why is there no article a or the in Pieni vitsi keventää kokousta?
Finnish does not have definite or indefinite articles like English. You simply use the noun and rely on context. pieni vitsi can mean “a small joke” or “the small joke” depending on what you already know.
What case is kokousta, and why is that case used?
Kokousta is in the partitive case. With verbs that describe an ongoing, incomplete or partial action (like lightening something) the object takes the partitive. It implies you’re lightening some aspect of the meeting, not completing an action on the meeting as a whole.
How is the partitive of kokous formed?
Nouns ending in -s form the partitive singular by dropping -s and adding -sta (using back-vowel harmony). So:
kokous → kokou- + ‑sta = kokousta
Why is pieni vitsi in the nominative case?