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Questions & Answers about Minä noudan ruoan kaupasta.
What does noudan mean, and what part of speech is it?
noudan is the first person singular present tense form of the verb noutaa, meaning “to fetch” or “to pick up.” In this sentence, it literally means “I fetch” or “I pick up.”
Why is ruoan in the genitive case instead of nominative or partitive?
Finnish uses the genitive for a complete, specific object of a transitive verb in a finished action. Here, fetching the food is seen as a completed action, so ruoka (nominative) becomes ruoan (genitive). If the action were ongoing or indefinite, you’d use the partitive ruokaa.
Why does kaupasta end in -sta?
The suffix -sta marks the elative case, indicating movement out of or from inside something. kaupasta therefore means “from the store.”
Can I omit Minä and just say Noudan ruoan kaupasta?
Yes. Finnish is a pro-drop language, so the subject pronoun can be omitted because the verb ending (-n) already shows that the subject is “I.” Including Minä adds emphasis or formality; omitting it makes the statement more neutral.
Could I also say Noudan kaupasta ruoan? Is the word order flexible?
Absolutely. Finnish word order is relatively free.
- Noudan ruoan kaupasta stresses what you pick up.
- Noudan kaupasta ruoan stresses where you pick it up.
Both mean “I pick up the food from the store.”
How would I express a future intention like “I will pick up the food from the store”?
Finnish doesn’t have a separate future tense. You can simply use present tense with a time adverb:
- Huomenna noudan ruoan kaupasta. (“Tomorrow I will pick up the food from the store.”)
Or add a periphrastic construction: - Tulen huomenna noutamaan ruoan kaupasta. (“I’m coming tomorrow to pick up the food from the store.”)
Is there a more colloquial verb than noutaa?
Yes. A very common informal synonym is hakea. You could say Haen ruoan kaupasta with exactly the same meaning: “I’m fetching/picking up the food from the store.”
How would I say “Pick up the food from the store” as a command?
Use the 2nd person singular imperative:
- Nouda ruoka kaupasta.
You can also keep the genitive for emphasis: - Nouda ruoan kaupasta.