Breakdown of Bussi on myöhässä liikenneruuhkan takia.
Questions & Answers about Bussi on myöhässä liikenneruuhkan takia.
Finnish does not use articles like the or a/an at all. The word bussi can mean a bus or the bus, depending on context.
In this sentence, because we are clearly talking about a specific bus that should have arrived, English naturally uses the bus, but Finnish just uses bussi with no extra word. Context normally tells you whether the meaning is a bus or the bus.
Myöhässä is in the essive case. Historically it comes from a noun meaning something like lateness, so myöhässä is literally in a state of lateness.
The structure olla + essive is very common in Finnish to describe a state:
- olla myöhässä – to be late
- olla oikeassa – to be right
- olla humalassa – to be drunk
- olla naimisissa – to be married
So Bussi on myöhässä is best understood as an idiomatic expression meaning The bus is late.
These three are related but used differently:
myöhässä – essive form, used with olla to say something or someone is late:
- Bussi on myöhässä. – The bus is late.
- Olen myöhässä. – I am late.
myöhään – an adverb meaning late (in time), used with verbs of action:
- Heräsin myöhään. – I woke up late.
- Tulin kotiin myöhään. – I came home late.
myöhäinen – an adjective meaning late (often referring to a late hour or late in a sequence):
- myöhäinen ilta – late evening
- myöhäinen bussi – a late(-night) bus / a bus that runs late in the evening
To say that the bus did not arrive on time, you almost always use Bussi on myöhässä, not Bussi on myöhäinen.
Liikenneruuhkan is in the genitive singular case.
- Base (nominative) form: liikenneruuhka – traffic jam
- Genitive singular: liikenneruuhkan – of the traffic jam / the traffic jam’s
Formation:
- liikenneruuhka
- genitive ending -n → liikenneruuhkan
- There is no consonant gradation here; it is a straightforward addition of -n.
In Finnish, when you use takia, the preceding noun must be in the genitive, which is why you see liikenneruuhkan takia and not liikenneruuhka takia.
Takia is a postposition meaning because of / due to. It always comes after the word it governs, and that word must be in the genitive:
- sään takia – because of the weather
- onnettomuuden takia – because of the accident
- liikenneruuhkan takia – because of the traffic jam
So liikenneruuhkan takia literally means because of the traffic jam.
Compare with using the conjunction koska:
- Bussi on myöhässä liikenneruuhkan takia. – The bus is late because of the traffic jam.
- Bussi on myöhässä, koska on liikenneruuhka. – The bus is late because there is a traffic jam.
Takia is followed by a noun phrase in the genitive; koska is followed by a full clause with a verb.
Takia is a postposition. That means it comes after the noun phrase:
- liikenneruuhkan takia – because of the traffic jam
- sateen takia – because of the rain
- hänen takiaan – because of him/her
Notice that with pronouns, takia usually attaches to the pronoun:
- minun takiani – because of me
- sinun takiasi – because of you
- heidän takiaan – because of them
The pattern remains the same: genitive + takia.
Yes. Finnish word order is relatively flexible, and both of these are correct:
- Bussi on myöhässä liikenneruuhkan takia.
- Liikenneruuhkan takia bussi on myöhässä.
The difference is in emphasis:
- Starting with Bussi is more neutral: the topic is the bus.
- Starting with Liikenneruuhkan takia emphasizes the reason; it’s like saying Because of the traffic jam, the bus is late.
Both sentences mean the same thing in normal conversation, but the fronted Liikenneruuhkan takia sounds a bit more emphatic or explanatory.
Yes. Bussi on myöhässä is a complete and very common sentence meaning The bus is late.
You only need liikenneruuhkan takia if you want to specify the reason. For example:
- Bussi on myöhässä. – The bus is late.
- Bussi on myöhässä liikenneruuhkan takia. – The bus is late because of the traffic jam.
In real life, you might first say the short version and then add the reason if needed.
You need to put bussi in the plural and the verb olla in the plural as well:
- Bussit ovat myöhässä liikenneruuhkan takia.
Breakdown:
- bussi → bussit (plural nominative)
- on → ovat (3rd person plural of olla)
- myöhässä stays the same; the essive form does not change for plural subjects here.
- liikenneruuhkan takia stays the same (there is still one traffic jam causing the delay).
Some tips:
myöhässä
- Syllables: myö-häs-sä
- Stress is on the first syllable: MYÖ-häs-sä.
- yö is a Finnish diphthong; y is like the u in French lune, and ö like the eu in French deux, blended together.
- ä is like a in English cat.
- Double ss means a longer s sound; hold it slightly longer than in English.
liikenneruuhkan
- Syllables: lii-ken-ne-ruuh-kan
- Stress again on the first syllable: LII-ken-ne-ruuh-kan.
- ii is a long i (like ee in see, but held a bit longer).
- ruuh has a long uu; hold the u sound.
- All letters are pronounced; there are no silent letters in Finnish.
If you pronounce every written vowel and consonant clearly and put the stress on the first syllable, you will already sound much closer to native Finnish.
Liikenneruuhka is one compound word. It is made from:
- liikenne – traffic
- ruuhka – congestion, jam
Finnish very often joins nouns together into compounds:
- liikenne + valo → liikennevalo – traffic light
- kesä + loma → kesäloma – summer holiday
- liikenne + ruuhka → liikenneruuhka – traffic jam
In this sentence, you see its genitive form liikenneruuhkan because takia requires the genitive.