Learn Hardcore Finnish: Uin järvessä aikaisin aamulla. - I swim in the lake early in the morning.

This is the past tense (preterite) 1st person singular form of the verb uida. In Finnish, type I verbs form the preterite by dropping -a/-ä from the infinitive and adding -in. So uida → uin = “I swam.”

Why is there no word for “I” in the sentence?

Finnish is a pro-drop language. The verb ending -n in uin already indicates 1st person singular. Thus minä (“I”) is usually omitted when it’s clear from the verb.

Why is the word järvi in the form järvessä?

Järvessä is the inessive case meaning “in the lake.” Finnish expresses location with cases rather than prepositions. The suffix -ssä marks “inside / at” for words following front-vowel harmony.

What’s the function of -ssä in järvessä?

The inessive suffix -ssä answers the question where? It tells you the action happened inside or at a place—in this case, inside the lake.

What part of speech is aikaisin and why is it used here?

Aikaisin is an adverb meaning “early.” It modifies the verb uin to specify when the action took place: “I swam early.”

Why do we also have aamulla? Isn’t aikaisin enough?

Aikaisin means “early,” but doesn’t specify which time of day. Aamulla is the adverbial form of aamu (“morning”), using the adessive case -lla, meaning “in the morning.” Together aikaisin aamulla means “early in the morning.”

Can we change the word order? For example, Aikaisin aamulla uin järvessä?

Yes! Finnish word order is quite flexible. Fronting aikaisin aamulla emphasizes the time. Both Uin järvessä aikaisin aamulla and Aikaisin aamulla uin järvessä are correct; you just shift the focus slightly.

Could we say uin järveen instead of järvessä?

No. Järveen is the illative case meaning “into the lake,” focusing on movement into it. Saying uin järveen would mean “I swam into the lake” (entry), not “I swam in the lake.” To express swimming around inside, you need järvessä.