Minä katson taivasta puistossa.

I look at the sky in the park.

Breakdown of Minä katson taivasta puistossa.

• minä: I
• puisto: the park
• katsoa: to look at
• taivas: the sky
• ­ssa: in

Questions & Answers about Minä katson taivasta puistossa.

Why is Minä included at the beginning? Isn’t the subject obvious from the verb?

In Finnish the verb ending already shows the person and number, so you could just say Katson taivasta puistossa and everyone would know it means “I look at the sky in the park.” Adding Minä puts extra emphasis on who is doing the action or can clarify if the context is ambiguous.

What does the ending -n in katson mean?

The -n is the first‐person singular ending in the present tense. Finnish verbs change their endings instead of using separate pronouns. So: • katso- (stem “look”)
• + -n = katson (“I look” / “I am looking”)

Why is taivasta in the partitive case instead of the basic form taivas?

Finnish uses the partitive case (marked here by -a) for objects when the action is ongoing, incomplete, or indefinite. Since you’re “looking at some portion of the sky” or doing the action without necessarily completing it, you use the partitive taivasta rather than nominative taivas.

When would you ever use taivaan instead?

Taivaan is the genitive or accusative form of taivas and refers to the entire sky as a completed object. You’d only use it if the verb conveys a completed action affecting the whole sky (for example, “I saw the whole sky,” though even then Finns usually stick with partitive for verbs of perception). In everyday “looking at the sky,” partitive is the norm.

What case is puistossa, and what does it mean?

Puistossa is the inessive case of puisto (“park”), marked by -ssa, meaning “in the park.” Finnish uses cases instead of prepositions like “in,” “on,” or “at.”

Why aren’t there any prepositions like in or at in the sentence?

Because Finnish expresses spatial and many other relationships through case endings rather than separate words. The case ending on puisto tells you the exact role (“inside,” “onto,” “from,” etc.) that in English would require a preposition.

Why are there no articles such as the or a?

Finnish doesn’t have definite or indefinite articles. Context tells you whether you mean “the sky” or just “sky,” and you don’t need extra words to mark that distinction.

Can I change the word order freely in Finnish?

Largely, yes. Finnish relies on cases, not position, to show who does what to whom. For emphasis you could say: • Puistossa katson taivasta (“It’s in the park that I’m looking at the sky”)
• Taivasta minä katson puistossa (“As for the sky, I look at it in the park”)
The basic neutral order is Subject–Verb–Object–Place, but you’re free to move elements around for focus or style.