Matkapuhelin soi kesken kävelyn.

to ring

Breakdown of Matkapuhelin soi kesken kävelyn.

• kesken: in the middle of
• matkapuhelin: the mobile phone
• kävely: the walk

Questions & Answers about Matkapuhelin soi kesken kävelyn.

What does matkapuhelin mean and how is it formed?

Matkapuhelin is a compound of matka (journey/travel) + puhelin (phone). It literally means “travel phone”, i.e. mobile phone.

Why is soi used here instead of soittaa, and what’s the difference?

Soida (intransitive) means “to ring” (as in “to emit a sound”). Its 3rd person singular present form is soi.
Soittaa (transitive) means “to make something ring” or “to call someone”. If you said Matkapuhelin soittaa, you’d need an object (e.g. soittaa minulle = “calls me”).

What case is kävelyn in, and why is it used here?

Kävely means “walk.” Kävelyn is its genitive singular form. After certain adpositions like kesken, Finnish marks the related noun in the genitive to indicate when something happens: kesken kävelyn = in the middle of the walk.

What does kesken mean, and how does it differ from keskellä or aikana?