Lähellä on kirkas järvi.

There is a clear lake nearby.

Breakdown of Lähellä on kirkas järvi.

• olla: to be
• kirkas: clear
• lähellä: nearby
• järvi: the lake

Questions & Answers about Lähellä on kirkas järvi.

What does lähellä mean, and is it a preposition or an adverb?

lähellä literally means “near” or “nearby.” Finnish doesn’t have prepositions like English; instead, location words appear as:

• adverbs (fixed words that don’t take a noun) – e.g. Lähellä on kirkas järvi (“Nearby there’s a clear lake”), or
• postpositions (like adpositions that follow a noun in a certain case) – e.g. talon lähellä (“near the house”), where talon is genitive.
  In our sentence, lähellä is a locative adverb: you don’t need any case on a separate noun.

Why is on used here, and what role does it serve?

on is the third-person singular present form of olla (“to be”). In Finnish, existential sentences (“there is/there are”) are built with olla + nominative subject. So Lähellä on kirkas järvi functions like “There is a clear lake nearby.” The verb on introduces the existence of something at a given location.

Why are kirkas and järvi in the nominative singular rather than the partitive or some other case?

In Finnish existential clauses naming a single indefinite item, the noun (and its adjective) stays in the nominative singular. The partitive case is used for incomplete objects, uncountable amounts, or ongoing actions, but here we simply assert “one clear lake exists.” Hence kirkas järvi is nominative.

Why is there no article like “a” or “the” before kirkas järvi?

Finnish has no grammatical articles. Definiteness or indefiniteness is inferred from context. kirkas järvi without an article simply means “(a) clear lake” when you’re introducing it for the first time.

The word order is lähellä – on – kirkas järvi. Is that the “normal” order, and why isn’t it on lähellä kirkas järvi?

Finnish word order is flexible, but in existential or “new information” sentences you often start with a location or context phrase, follow with the verb, and end with the new subject. So
 1. Lähellä (location, known)
 2. on (existential verb)
 3. kirkas järvi (new information)
Putting on first (On lähellä kirkas järvi) is possible but stylistically marked; it makes the verb overly prominent.

What if I said Kirkas järvi on lähellä instead—does the meaning change?

That sentence is perfectly correct, but it’s not a classic existential construction. Kirkas järvi on lähellä reads more like “The clear lake is nearby,” treating the lake as known and focusing on its location. Lähellä on kirkas järvi is more “Here’s something you didn’t know: there’s a clear lake nearby.”

How do I specify whose proximity I mean, for example “near me” or “near the school”?

There are two common ways:

1. Attach a possessive suffix to lähellä:
    • Lähelläni on kirkas järvi = “Near me there is a clear lake.”
    • Lähellänne on kirkas järvi = “Near you (plural) there is a clear lake.”
2. Use a postpositional phrase with a noun + genitive + lähellä:
    • Koulun lähellä on kirkas järvi = “Near the school there is a clear lake.”

Can I say “near the house there’s a lake”? How do I use lähellä with a preceding noun?

Yes. You turn lähellä into a postposition by putting the thing you’re near in the genitive:
 Talon lähellä on järvi = “Near the house there is a lake.”
If you want the adjective too:
 Talon lähellä on kirkas järvi = “Near the house there is a clear lake.”