Talvella lapsi leikkii sisällä.

In winter, the child plays indoors.

Breakdown of Talvella lapsi leikkii sisällä.

• lapsi: the child
• leikkiä: to play
• sisällä: inside
• talvella: in winter

Questions & Answers about Talvella lapsi leikkii sisällä.

What case is Talvella, and why is it used to say “in winter”?

Talvella is the adessive case of talvi (winter), marked by -lla/-llä. In Finnish, the adessive is commonly used for general time expressions like “in winter,” “in summer” (kesällä), etc. You can’t use the plain nominative talvi to express “during winter.”

Why is lapsi in the nominative case?

Lapsi is the subject of the sentence, and subjects normally appear in the nominative case in Finnish. There’s no additional ending because it’s a simple, singular subject.

Why is there no article “the” or “a” before lapsi?

Finnish simply doesn’t have definite or indefinite articles. Context tells you whether you mean “a child” or “the child,” so you just use lapsi without adding anything.

Why is the verb leikkii spelled with two i’s at the end?

The infinitive is leikkiä. To form the present tense, 3rd person singular, you add -i to the stem (leikki-) and then no extra personal ending. Since the stem already ends in i, you end up with leikkii (stem leikki- + tense marker -i).

What case is sisällä, and why is it used here instead of sisään?

Sisällä is the inessive case (inside something), marking location (“at/in the interior”). Sisään is the illative case meaning “into” (movement toward the inside). Here the child is already inside, so you use sisällä (“inside”) rather than sisään (“into”).

Could I say talvessa instead of talvella?

No. Talvessa would be the inessive (“inside the winter” in a very literal sense), which isn’t used for general time expressions. For “in winter” you always use the adessive talvella.

Is word order fixed in Finnish? Could I say Lapsi leikkii sisällä talvella?

Word order in Finnish is quite flexible. You can move time phrases or locations to the end for emphasis. Lapsi leikkii sisällä talvella is grammatically correct, but the neutral order is Talvella lapsi leikkii sisällä. Fronting Talvella highlights the time, while putting it last downplays it.

Does Finnish conjugate verbs differently for “he” or “she,” or is leikkii the same for both?

Finnish verbs don’t mark gender. Leikkii covers “he plays,” “she plays,” “it plays,” and even “you (formal) play,” all with the same form. There’s no separate masculine or feminine conjugation.