Breakdown of Pidämme puolisoni kanssa pitkistä kävelyistä naapurustossa.
minun
my
-ssa
in
kanssa
with
pitää
to like
pitkä
long
kävely
the walk
naapurusto
the neighborhood
puoliso
the spouse
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Finnish grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Pidämme puolisoni kanssa pitkistä kävelyistä naapurustossa.
What does pidämme mean, and why does it end in -mme?
pidämme is the first-person plural form of the verb pitää meaning to like or to enjoy. The suffix -mme marks the subject we, so pidämme literally means we like.
Why is puolisoni in the genitive case before kanssa?
When you use kanssa to mean with, the accompanying noun takes the genitive. puolisoni is the genitive of puoliso meaning spouse, so puolisoni kanssa means with my spouse.
What does puolisoni specifically mean, and why use it instead of vaimoni or aviomieheni?
puoliso means spouse or partner and is gender neutral. vaimo means wife and aviomies means husband, so puolisoni lets you avoid specifying gender.
Why are pitkistä kävelyistä in the elative plural (ending -stä)?
With pitää jostakin meaning to like something, Finnish uses the elative case (-sta/-stä) for the thing you like. The plural ending -istä shows you are talking about long walks in general.
Could you use the singular elative pitkästä kävelystä, and how would the meaning change?
Yes. pidämme pitkästä kävelystä would focus on the concept of a long walk or one long walk, while pidämme pitkistä kävelyistä emphasizes enjoying long walks repeatedly.
What case is naapurustossa, what does it mean, and why is that case used?
naapurustossa is the inessive case (ending -ssa) of naapurusto meaning neighborhood. The inessive marks the location where something happens, so here it means in the neighborhood.
Why use naapurustossa instead of naapurissa, and what is the difference between naapurusto and naapuri?
naapuri means neighbor (a person or household), so naapurissa would mean in the neighbor. naapurusto means the area or district—neighborhood—so naapurustossa is correct for in the neighborhood.
Do you need to say me pidämme, or is pidämme alone enough to mean we like?
Finnish verb endings include the subject, so pidämme already means we like. Adding me is possible for emphasis (Me pidämme), but not required in everyday speech.
Is the word order fixed, or could you say Naapurustossa pidämme puolisoni kanssa pitkistä kävelyistä?
Finnish has flexible word order for emphasis or style. Starting with naapurustossa shifts the focus to where you like walking, but the basic meaning—My spouse and I like long walks in the neighborhood—remains unchanged.