Learn Hardcore Finnish: Ulko-ovi on hissin edessä, ja varasto on sen takana. - The front door is in front of the elevator, and the storage is behind it.

It’s a compound noun: ulko (outside) + ovi (door). Finnish uses a hyphen when identical vowels meet at the boundary of a compound to keep it readable and pronounceable. So ulko-ovi is the standard form (compare: maa-alue, suu-aukko). Writing “ulkoovi” is not standard.

Why is hissi in the form hissin?

Because edessä and takana are postpositions that take their complement in the genitive. The pattern is: [NOUN in genitive] + [postposition], e.g. hissin edessä (in front of the elevator), sen takana (behind it). Other examples: talon edessä, auton takana.

What exactly are edessä and takana?

They are postpositions (functioning as nouns in certain local-case forms) meaning “in front (of)” and “behind.” They typically follow a genitive noun or pronoun: hissin edessä, sen takana. Without a complement they can act adverbially, e.g. edessä = “ahead/in front,” takana = “behind/at the back.”

How do I say “to the front/behind” and “from the front/behind” for motion?

Use the directional counterparts:

Front: static edessä, to eteen, from edestä
Back: static takana, to taakse, from takaa Examples: Menen hissin eteen. Tulen hissin edestä. Menen sen taakse. Tulen sen takaa.

Why is it sen takana and not se takana or siinä takana?

Before postpositions, pronouns appear in the genitive: se → sen. So it must be sen takana. Se takana is ungrammatical in this structure, and siinä takana would mean “behind there,” not “behind it.”

What does sen refer to here, exactly?

By default it refers back to the most plausible singular inanimate noun mentioned earlier—here, that’s likely hissi (elevator). If there’s any risk of ambiguity (e.g., could it mean the door?), simply repeat the noun: …ja varasto on hissin takana.

Could I omit the second on?

Yes. Finnish often omits a repeated copula in parallel structures: Ulko-ovi on hissin edessä ja varasto sen takana. Keeping on in the second clause is also correct.

Why is there a comma before ja?

These are two independent main clauses with different subjects, so a comma before ja is common and fully acceptable in standard Finnish. In brief, “Ulko-ovi on hissin edessä ja varasto on sen takana” without the comma is also seen, especially when the clauses are short and closely connected.

Can I reverse the word order?

Yes, to foreground the location: Hissin edessä on ulko-ovi, ja sen takana on varasto. Finnish word order is flexible; you can put the locative phrase first for emphasis or information structure.

Why not hississä edessä?

Because the location is expressed by the postposition, not by putting the reference noun in a local case. Hississä means “in the elevator,” which would give “in the elevator in front (of something),” not the intended “in front of the elevator.” The correct structure is genitive + postposition: hissin edessä.

How do I make the “elevator” and the pronoun plural?

Genitive plural is hissien: hissien edessä (in front of the elevators). The pronoun ne (“they/these/those” inanimate) has genitive niiden: varasto on niiden takana (the storage is behind them).

Why don’t edessä or takana have a possessive suffix here?

The genitive complement already indicates whose front/back we’re talking about. A possessive suffix like edessään or takanaan is reflexive and would refer back to the subject of the clause (e.g., “the front door is in front of itself”), which is not what we want. To refer to the elevator, use hissin/’sen’ + postposition.

Could I say sijaitsee instead of on?

Yes: Ulko-ovi sijaitsee hissin edessä… means “is located.” It’s a bit more formal or technical. In everyday Finnish, on is the default for location.

Are there other common postpositions that work like this?

Yes, many. A few high-frequency ones:

vieressä (next to): talon vieressä
alla (under): pöydän alla
päällä (on top of): pöydän päällä
lähellä (near): koulun lähellä
keskellä (in the middle of): aukion keskellä
ympärillä (around): talon ympärillä All take a genitive complement, just like edessä and takana.

Is ulko-ovi the same as etuovi?

Not exactly. Ulko-ovi is the outer/entrance door that leads outside (as opposed to sisäovi, an interior door). Etuovi usually means the “front door” specifically; it’s also a well-known real estate site name. In many contexts the two overlap, but ulko-ovi emphasizes “to the outside.”