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Illalla suljen verhot, kun menemme nukkumaan yläkertaan.

Illalla suljen verhot, kun menemme nukkumaan yläkertaan.
In the evening I close the curtains when we go upstairs to sleep.
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Questions & Answers about Illalla suljen verhot, kun menemme nukkumaan yläkertaan.

What does illalla literally mean, and why is it used here?

Illalla comes from ilta (evening) + the adessive ending -lla, and it literally means “in the evening / at evening”.

It’s the normal way to say “in the evening” as a time expression:

  • Illalla katson televisiota. – In the evening I watch TV.

So in this sentence, Illalla simply sets the time: this happens in the evening.

Why is the verb suljen (present tense) used, even though in English we say “I close (or will close) the curtains in the evening”?

Finnish usually uses the present tense for:

  1. Habitual actions (things you regularly do)
  2. Future actions (when it’s clear from context the action is in the future)

So suljen (present: I close) can correspond to English:

  • “I close” (habitually)
  • “I will close” (future)

In this sentence, Illalla suljen verhot most naturally means a repeated / habitual action:
“In the evenings I (always) close the curtains…”

You do not need a special future tense in Finnish; the present tense with a time expression (like illalla) is enough.

Why is it verhot and not something like verhoja or with some other ending?

Verhot is the plural of verho (curtain):

  • verho = (one) curtain
  • verhot = curtains

Here verhot is a total object (you close all the curtains), so it appears in the accusative, which for plural nouns looks like the nominative plural:

  • plural nominative form: verhot
  • plural accusative form (for a complete, total object): also verhot

Compare:

  • Suljen verhot. – I close the curtains (all of them).
  • Suljen verhoja. – I’m closing some curtains / I’m (in general) closing curtains (partitive, incomplete / indefinite).

So verhot fits because the idea is that you close the whole set of curtains.

What exactly does kun mean here, and what’s the difference from koska?

Kun can mean:

  1. when (time)
  2. because (in some contexts, more colloquial)

In this sentence, kun is clearly temporal: “when we go upstairs to sleep”.

  • Illalla suljen verhot, kun menemme nukkumaan.
    → In the evening I close the curtains *when we go to sleep…*

If you used koska instead:

  • Illalla suljen verhot, koska menemme nukkumaan yläkertaan.

that would mean:

  • “In the evening I close the curtains because we go upstairs to sleep.”

So:

  • kun → “when” (time)
  • koska → “because” (reason)
Can the word order be changed, for example starting with the kun-clause?

Yes. Finnish word order is fairly flexible. You can say:

  • Illalla suljen verhot, kun menemme nukkumaan yläkertaan.
  • Kun menemme nukkumaan yläkertaan, suljen verhot illalla.

Both are grammatical. The meaning in terms of time is the same; you’re just emphasizing different parts slightly:

  • Starting with Illalla suljen verhot emphasizes the evening routine.
  • Starting with Kun menemme… emphasizes the moment when you do it.

In everyday speech, both orders are natural.

Why is it menemme nukkumaan and not something like menemme nukkua?

The verb mennä (“to go”) usually combines with the 3rd infinitive illative form of another verb to express “go to do [something]”:

  • mennä syömään – to go (in order) to eat
  • mennä ostamaan – to go (in order) to buy
  • mennä nukkumaan – to go (in order) to sleep

The pattern is:

mennä + [verb stem] + -maan / -mään

So nukkumaan is the correct form with mennä.
The form mennä nukkua is ungrammatical in this meaning.

What is the form nukkumaan, and how is it built from nukkua?

Nukkumaan is the 3rd infinitive, illative case of nukkua (to sleep).

Formation:

  1. Take the verb stem: nuku-
  2. Add the -ma/-mä suffix to form the 3rd infinitive base: nukku-ma
  3. Add the illative ending -an / -än: nukkumaan

Function:

  • It often expresses “for doing something / in order to do something”, especially after movement verbs like mennä (go), tulla (come), lähteä (leave).

So menemme nukkumaan literally is “we go into sleeping”, i.e. “we go to sleep”.

What does yläkertaan mean exactly, and why does it end with -an?

Yläkertaan comes from yläkerta (“upstairs”, literally something like “upper floor”) + the illative ending -an:

  • yläkerta = upstairs / upper floor
  • yläkertaan = to upstairs / upstairs (as destination)

The illative case (-n, -an, -en, depending on the word) expresses movement into / to somewhere.

Compare the main location cases:

  • yläkertaan – to upstairs (destination, illative)
  • yläkerrassa – in / upstairs (location, inessive)
  • yläkerrasta – from upstairs (origin, elative)

Here menemme … yläkertaan = we go upstairs.

Why is there a comma before kun in this sentence?

In Finnish, a comma is normally used before a subordinate clause, and kun introduces a subordinate clause (“when we go upstairs to sleep”).

So you separate:

  • Main clause: Illalla suljen verhot
  • Subordinate clause: kun menemme nukkumaan yläkertaan.

Hence the comma:
Illalla suljen verhot, kun menemme nukkumaan yläkertaan.

This is a standard punctuation rule: put a comma before most conjunctions that start a subordinate clause, such as kun, koska, että, vaikka, etc.

Why are the pronouns minä and me not written, and could they be added?

In Finnish, personal endings on the verb already show who is doing the action:

  • suljen → I close (1st person singular)
  • menemme → we go (1st person plural)

Because of that, subject pronouns are optional unless you want extra emphasis.

  • Illalla suljen verhot… – In the evening I close the curtains…
  • Kun menemme nukkumaan… – When we go to sleep…

You can add the pronouns for emphasis or clarity:

  • Illalla minä suljen verhot, kun me menemme nukkumaan yläkertaan.

This sounds more emphatic, like: “In the evenings I am the one who closes the curtains when we go upstairs to sleep.”

Does Illalla suljen verhot mean “every evening” or just “this evening”?

By itself, Illalla suljen verhot is a bit ambiguous. It can mean:

  1. A habit / routine: “In the evenings I (always) close the curtains.”
  2. A one-time future event: “This evening I’ll close the curtains.”

Context usually decides which one is meant. Often in isolation, it is understood as habitual, especially together with a general routine like going to sleep.

If you want to clearly say every evening, you can use:

  • Iltaisin suljen verhot. – In the evenings / every evening I close the curtains.
Could we say Illalla suljen verhot, kun menemme yläkertaan nukkumaan instead, and is there any difference?

Yes, you can say:

  • Illalla suljen verhot, kun menemme yläkertaan nukkumaan.

This just changes the word order inside the kun-clause:

  • menemme nukkumaan yläkertaan
  • menemme yläkertaan nukkumaan

Both are natural and mean essentially the same:
“When we go upstairs to sleep.”

The focus is slightly different (one emphasizes “to sleep” at the end, the other “upstairs”), but in normal conversation there’s no real difference in meaning.

Is there a more general or passive way to say this, like “In the evening the curtains are closed when we go upstairs”?

Yes, Finnish has an impersonal / passive form:

  • Illalla verhot suljetaan, kun menemme nukkumaan yläkertaan.

This means roughly:

  • “In the evening the curtains are closed when we go upstairs to sleep.”

Here suljetaan is the passive of sulkea, and it suggests “people / someone closes the curtains”, without saying exactly who. It focuses on the action, not on the person doing it.