Learn Hardcore Finnish: Ruokapöytä on keittiössä ikkunan alla. - The dining table is in the kitchen under the window.

Finnish very often builds new words by putting two (or more) nouns together like this: ruoka + pöytä → ruokapöytä. The main stress stays on the first syllable of the whole compound: RUO-ka-pöy-tä.

What grammatical form is keittiössä, and why does it end with -ssä?

Keittiössä is in the inessive case, which usually means “in / inside” something.

Base form (nominative): keittiö = kitchen
Inessive: keittiö + ssä → keittiössä = in the kitchen

The ending -ssa / -ssä is chosen according to vowel harmony:

Back vowels (a, o, u) → -ssa
Front vowels (ä, ö, y) → -ssä

Since keittiö has front vowels (e, i, ö), it takes -ssä → keittiössä.

So Ruokapöytä on keittiössä = The dining table is in the kitchen (located inside it, not moving).

How would the sentence change if we wanted to say “into the kitchen” instead of “in the kitchen”?

For “into the kitchen” (movement), Finnish normally uses the illative case, not the inessive.

keittiöön = into the kitchen (illative)
keittiössä = in the kitchen (inessive, static location)

To keep the rest of the sentence natural, you’d usually also change the verb to one of motion. For example:

Ruokapöytä viedään keittiöön ikkunan alle.
= The dining table is being taken into the kitchen under the window.

So:

keittiössä → location, where something is
keittiöön → direction, where something is going

Why is it ikkunan alla and not just ikkuna alla?

Because alla is a postposition that requires the noun before it to be in the genitive case.

Base form: ikkuna = window
Genitive: ikkunan

ikkunan alla literally means “under of-the-window”, which we translate as “under the window”.

So the pattern is:

ikkuna (window) → ikkunan alla (under the window)
pöytä (table) → pöydän alla (under the table)
sänky (bed) → sängyn alla (under the bed)

Using ikkuna alla without the -n genitive ending would be incorrect here.

Is alla a preposition or a postposition, and how does it behave in Finnish?

Alla is a postposition: it comes after the noun, not before it as in English.

English: under the window
Finnish: ikkunan alla (window’s under)

Typical pattern:

The noun is in the genitive case
The postposition follows it

Examples:

talon takana = behind the house
pöydän alla = under the table
oven edessä = in front of the door

So in keittiössä ikkunan alla:

keittiössä = in the kitchen (inessive)
ikkunan alla = under the window (genitive + postposition)

What is the difference between alla, alle, and alta?

These three forms describe under with different spatial meanings:

alla = under (static location)
- pöydän alla = under the table (and staying there)
alle = to under (movement to a position under something)
- Menen pöydän alle. = I go under the table.
alta = from under (movement out from under something)
- Tulen pöydän alta. = I come from under the table.

In your sentence, ikkunan alla is about location, not movement, so the correct form is alla.

What does on mean here, and which verb form is it?

On is the 3rd person singular present tense form of the verb olla = to be.

The full present tense of olla is:

minä olen = I am
sinä olet = you (sg.) are
hän on = he/she is
me olemme = we are
te olette = you (pl.) are
he ovat = they are

So in Ruokapöytä on keittiössä ikkunan alla,
on corresponds to English “is”:

Ruokapöytä on … = The dining table is …

Why is there no word like “the” or “a” in the Finnish sentence?

Finnish has no articles (no equivalents of English “a / an / the”).

Whether a noun is understood as definite (“the dining table”) or indefinite (“a dining table”) comes from context, word order, and what is already known to the speakers.

In normal context, Ruokapöytä on keittiössä ikkunan alla would almost always be understood as:

“The dining table is in the kitchen under the window.”

But the same bare noun ruokapöytä can also refer to “a dining table” in other contexts. Finnish doesn’t mark that difference grammatically.

Can the word order change, for example to Keittiössä ikkunan alla on ruokapöytä? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, Finnish word order is fairly flexible, and that version is also correct:

Keittiössä ikkunan alla on ruokapöytä.

Both sentences are grammatical:

Ruokapöytä on keittiössä ikkunan alla.
– Slight emphasis on what we are talking about (the dining table), then telling where it is.
Keittiössä ikkunan alla on ruokapöytä.
– Slight emphasis on the place: In the kitchen, under the window, there is a dining table.
This can feel a bit more like an existential statement (“there is a dining table…”).

So the basic meaning is the same, but the focus and information structure shift a little.

How would this sentence look broken down into parts with cases indicated?

You can break it down like this:

Ruoka-pöytä
- ruoka = food
- pöytä = table
  → dining table (compound noun, nominative singular)
on
- verb olla, 3rd person singular present
  → is
keittiö-ssä
- keittiö = kitchen
- -ssä = inessive case (in, inside)
  → in the kitchen
ikkuna-n alla
- ikkuna = window
- -n = genitive case (of the window)
- alla = postposition “under”
  → under the window

Put together:

Ruokapöytä on keittiössä ikkunan alla.
= The dining table is in the kitchen under the window.