Learn Hardcore Finnish: Hiljaisuus katosi hetkeksi, kun pesukone alkoi pyöriä yöllä. - The silence disappeared for a moment when the washing machine started spinning at night.

Hiljaisuus (‘silence’) acts as the subject of the verb katosi (‘disappeared’), so it sits in the nominative case. The partitive (e.g. hiljaisuutta) marks incomplete objects or quantities, not subjects performing an action.

What case is hetkeksi, and why use it here?

hetkeksi is the translative case of hetki (‘moment’), formed with -ksi. In time expressions it functions adverbially, meaning ‘for a moment’, to show how long the silence was gone.

Why is katosi in the imperfect (past tense) instead of the present?

The sentence describes a past event, so we use the imperfect form katosi (‘disappeared’). The present katoaa would read “the silence disappears,” which doesn’t fit a past narrative.

Why is the verb katosi used instead of hävisi?

Both katoa and hävitä can mean ‘to disappear,’ but katoa often implies a sudden or brief vanishing—perfect for “silence” that quickly returns. hävitä tends to be more general (“to get lost” or “to vanish completely”).

What is kun in this sentence, and why not jos?

kun is a temporal conjunction meaning ‘when’, linking one actual event (silence disappearing) to another (the washing machine starting). jos would mean ‘if’, introducing a hypothetical or conditional scenario.

Why can the clause kun pesukone alkoi pyöriä yöllä be placed at the end?

Finnish has flexible word order, so you can attach subordinate clauses before or after the main clause. Putting kun pesukone alkoi pyöriä yöllä last keeps the focus on the main event (Hiljaisuus katosi hetkeksi) and makes the sentence flow naturally.

Why is pesukone in the nominative case, and why no article is used?

pesukone (‘washing machine’) is the subject of alkoi (‘started’), so it stays in nominative. Finnish doesn’t have articles like the or a, so nouns appear without them.

Why is pyöriä in the infinitive, and why the first infinitive?

After alkaa (‘to start’), Finnish uses the first infinitive (basic dictionary form) of another verb to show the beginning of that action. Thus alkaa pyöriä = ‘to start spinning.’

What is the meaning and case of yöllä?

yöllä is the adessive case of yö (‘night’), marked by -llä. As a time adverbial, it means ‘at night.’

Why is there no pronoun like se before pesukone?

Finnish typically omits subject pronouns when the noun subject is already present. In English we’d say “it started spinning,” but in Finnish naming pesukone makes se unnecessary.