Poika odottaa tyttöä metron laiturilla.

to wait for

Breakdown of Poika odottaa tyttöä metron laiturilla.

• -lla: on
• tyttö: the girl
• poika: the boy

Questions & Answers about Poika odottaa tyttöä metron laiturilla.

What grammatical roles and cases does each word have?

• Poika — nominative singular; the subject (boy).
• odottaa — 3rd person singular present of the verb odottaa (to wait).
• tyttöä — partitive singular; the object (girl).
• metron — genitive singular of metro; an attributive noun meaning of the metro.
• laiturilla — adessive singular of laituri; on the platform.

Together metron laiturilla means on the metro platform (literally on the platform of the metro).

Why is tyttöä in the partitive case?

Because odottaa selects a partitive object by default. Many Finnish verbs of waiting, seeking, liking, fearing, etc. take the partitive (e.g., etsiä, rakastaa, pelätä, odottaa). The partitive also fits the idea of an ongoing, not-yet-completed action.

Can I ever say tytön or tyttö after odottaa?

• Not as a simple object: ✗ odottaa tytön / odottaa tyttö is ungrammatical for wait for the girl.
• You can use tytön if you add a complement clause: odottaa tytön tulevan/saapuvan = to expect the girl to come/arrive. Here the meaning is closer to expect, and tytön belongs to the participial clause.

How do I ask Who is the boy waiting for? and Where is he waiting?