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Minä ja kaverini pelaamme uutta peliä illalla.

Minä ja kaverini pelaamme uutta peliä illalla.
My buddy and I play a new game in the evening.

Breakdown of Minä ja kaverini pelaamme uutta peliä illalla.

minä
I
minun
my
uusi
new
ja
and
illalla
in the evening
pelata
to play
kaveri
the buddy
peli
the game
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Questions & Answers about Minä ja kaverini pelaamme uutta peliä illalla.

Why is the verb in the form pelaamme?

Because the subject is plural: Minä ja kaverini = “my friend and I” = “we.” Finnish verbs agree with the person and number of the subject, so you use the 1st person plural:

  • minä pelaan
  • sinä pelaat
  • hän pelaa
  • me pelaamme
  • te pelaatte
  • he pelaavat
Could I just say Pelaamme uutta peliä illalla and drop the subject?

Yes. Finnish often omits subject pronouns because the verb ending shows the person/number. Pelaamme uutta peliä illalla = “We are playing a new game in the evening.”
However, that no longer specifies who “we” are. If you want to specify “my friend and I,” keep Minä ja kaverini or rephrase as Pelaan kaverini kanssa… (“I’m playing with my friend…”).

Why is it kaverini and not something like minun kaveri?

Finnish marks possession either with a possessive suffix, a genitive pronoun, or both:

  • possessive suffix only: kaverini = “my friend” (standard)
  • pronoun + suffix: minun kaverini (also standard, slightly more formal/careful)
  • colloquial pronoun only: mun kaveri (very common in speech)
  • “minun kaveri” without the suffix is colloquial; avoid it in formal writing.
Could kaverini mean “my friends” (plural)?

Yes, it can be ambiguous. With possessive suffixes, the nominative plural -t is not shown, so:

  • kaverini tulee = “my friend is coming” (verb 3sg → singular)
  • kaverini tulevat = “my friends are coming” (verb 3pl → plural)
    In your sentence, the phrase “my friend and I” suggests a single friend, but isolated kaverini can mean either singular or plural depending on context.
Why are uusi and peli in the forms uutta peliä?

That’s the partitive singular. Two key reasons:

  • The verb pelata typically takes a partitive object when referring to playing in progress or playing some amount of a game (an atelic/ongoing action).
  • The object is indefinite/unspecified (not a particular, completed whole).
    Adjectives must agree with the noun in case and number, so uusi also becomes partitive singular: uutta peliä.
When would I use uuden pelin instead?

Use the total object (genitive/accusative) when you mean a specific, delimited whole—often implying the action targets that whole game (or is completed):

  • Pelasimme sen uuden pelin eilen loppuun. “We played that new game to the end yesterday.”
  • In sports reporting: Joukkue pelasi pelin (the team played the game/match).
    For just “we’re (going to be) playing a new game (for some time),” the partitive uutta peliä is the natural choice.
Do adjectives always match the noun’s case and number?

Yes. Examples with “new game”:

  • nominative: uusi peli
  • partitive: uutta peliä
  • genitive/accusative: uuden pelin
  • inessive: uudessa pelissä
    So in your sentence, uusi must be uutta to match peliä.
What case is illalla, and what does it imply?

Illalla is the adessive case of ilta (“evening”) used in time expressions: “in the evening/tonight.”

  • It usually refers to this coming evening in context, but it can also mean “in the evening” generally.
    For habitual action, Finnish uses iltaisin (“in the evenings (habitually)”).
Can I move illalla elsewhere in the sentence?

Yes. Word order is flexible and affects emphasis:

  • Neutral/new info last: Minä ja kaverini pelaamme uutta peliä illalla.
  • Emphasize time: Illalla minä ja kaverini pelaamme uutta peliä.
  • Focus on “we”: Me pelaamme illalla uutta peliä.
    All are grammatical; choose based on what you want to highlight.
Is Minä ja kaverini the most natural way to say “my friend and I”?

It’s fine. Many prefer to put themselves last: Kaverini ja minä (like English “X and I”).
Another idiomatic option is to avoid explicit coordination and say: Pelaan kaverini kanssa… (“I’m playing with my friend…”), which often sounds very natural in Finnish.

How do I negate the sentence?

Use the negative auxiliary plus the main verb in its base form:

  • Minä ja kaverini emme pelaa uutta peliä illalla.
  • Or simply: Emme pelaa uutta peliä illalla.
Any pronunciation tips for this sentence?
  • Finnish stress is on the first syllable: MI-nä, KA-ve-ri-ni, PE-laam-me, UUT-ta, PE-li-ä, IL-lal-la.
  • Double letters are long: aa in pelaamme, uu and tt in uutta, ll in illalla.
  • The vowel ä is fronted (not like English “a”): peliä, minä.
Is there a difference between kaveri and ystävä?
Yes. Kaveri is casual (“buddy/pal”), common in everyday speech. Ystävä is “friend” with a slightly closer or more formal nuance. Your sentence with ystävä would be perfectly fine too: Minä ja ystäväni…
What’s going on with the forms of uusi (like uutta, uuden)?

The adjective uusi has stem alternations (uude-/uute-), so you get:

  • nominative: uusi
  • partitive: uutta
  • genitive: uuden
    These are standard irregularities you’ll see with this adjective; just memorize the common forms.