Breakdown of Minulla on yskä vielä, joten pysyn kotona.
Questions & Answers about Minulla on yskä vielä, joten pysyn kotona.
Finnish normally expresses possession with the structure:
- [adessive case] + on + thing possessed
So:
- Minulla on yskä = There is a cough on me → I have a cough
Here:
- minä = I
- minulla = on me (adessive singular)
- on = is (3rd person singular of olla, to be)
- yskä = cough (noun)
You cannot say Minä olen yskä, because that would literally mean I am a cough, not I have a cough. Finnish does not use olla with the subject directly to show possession, but this special structure with -lla/-llä + on.
Minulla is in the adessive case (the -lla/-llä ending).
- Base form: minä (I)
- Adessive: minulla (on me, at me)
Literally, Minulla on yskä is something like On me is a cough.
The adessive is used in this construction to express that something belongs to or is with someone, which is why it is the standard way to say I have X in Finnish.
All three forms exist, but they are different:
- yskÄ – nominative singular noun: cough
- yskÄn –
- either the genitive of the noun (of the cough)
- or 1st person singular of the verb yskiä (I cough)
- yskÄÄ – partitive singular of the noun (some cough / coughing)
In this sentence:
- Minulla on yskä uses nominative because we’re talking about a specific symptom / illness as a whole: a cough.
You might also see Minulla on yskää in real language, especially when describing ongoing symptoms more like I’m coughing / I have (some) cough. Both are possible, but yskÄ (nominative) is perfectly natural and common for symptoms:
Minulla on yskä, kuume ja nuha. – I have a cough, a fever, and a runny nose.
Finnish does not have articles at all – there is no direct equivalent of English a / an / the.
Whether you translate yskÄ as a cough or the cough depends entirely on context in English. The Finnish form stays the same:
- Minulla on yskä. → I have a cough.
- In another context it could also translate as I have the cough if a specific one was meant.
In this sentence, vielä means still:
- Minulla on yskä vielä → I still have a cough.
In general:
- In positive sentences, vielä usually means still / (not) yet depending on context:
- Minulla on vielä rahaa. – I still have money.
- In negative sentences, vielä often corresponds to yet:
- Minulla ei ole vielä rahaa. – I don’t have money yet.
So here, with a positive verb, vielä is best translated as still.
Both word orders are grammatical, but they sound slightly different:
- Minulla on vielä yskä. – neutral, maybe the most typical order: I still have a cough.
- Minulla on yskä vielä. – adds a bit more emphasis to yskÄ and then comments that it is still there.
The difference is subtle and often a matter of rhythm and emphasis. In everyday speech, both can be used with almost the same meaning.
joten is a conjunction meaning so / therefore, introducing a result:
- Minulla on yskä vielä, joten pysyn kotona.
– I still have a cough, so I’m staying at home.
Comparison:
- koska = because, introduces the reason in a subordinate clause:
- Pysyn kotona, koska minulla on yskä. – I’m staying at home because I have a cough.
- siksi = for that reason / that’s why, an adverb of reason:
- Minulla on yskä. Siksi pysyn kotona. – I have a cough. That’s why I’m staying at home.
So:
- joten = so, therefore (links cause → result in one sentence)
- koska = because (introduces the reason clause)
- siksi = for that reason, that’s why (adverb, often starts a new sentence)
pysyä means to stay / to remain in the sense of not leaving a place or state.
- pysyn = I stay / I remain (1st person singular present)
In this context:
- pysyn kotona = I’m staying at home (I will remain at home, not go out)
Alternatives:
- olen kotona – I am at home (just stating location, not the decision)
- jään kotiin – I will stay home / I won’t go out (more about the decision to not leave)
- kotiin here is the illative (to home), so it’s more about not going away from home in the first place.
pysyä kotona emphasises remaining there for some period, which fits because I still have a cough very well.
Finnish uses different cases to express in / to / from a place. For koti (home):
- kotona – at home (inessive: in, at)
- kotiin – (to) home (illative: into, to)
- kotoa – from home (elative: out of, from)
In the sentence:
- pysyn kotona = I stay at home (location where you remain).
You would use:
- Menen kotiin. – I go home.
- Lähden kotoa. – I leave from home.
So kotona is correct because the idea is staying at a place, not going to or from it.
Finnish present tense often covers both:
- present time
- near future (especially for planned or decided actions)
So:
- pysyn kotona can mean:
- I stay at home (habitually, right now), or
- I’m going to stay at home (this time, as a decision)
Context and adverbs (like tänään, huomenna) clarify the exact time if needed. Here, the context I still have a cough clearly implies a current decision about the near future, so English naturally uses I’m staying or I’ll stay.
In Finnish, person is already marked on the verb, so the subject pronoun is usually omitted unless needed for emphasis or clarity.
- pysyn already means I stay / I am staying.
- Saying Minä pysyn kotona adds emphasis on I (for example, contrasting with others: I will stay home, even if you don’t).
In this sentence there’s no contrast being highlighted, so it’s natural to leave minä out and just say pysyn kotona.
Yes, that sentence is grammatical:
- Koska minulla on yskä vielä, pysyn kotona.
– Because I still have a cough, I’m staying at home.
Difference in feel:
- Minulla on yskä vielä, joten pysyn kotona.
- First states a fact, then gives the result with joten (so, therefore).
- Koska minulla on yskä vielä, pysyn kotona.
- Starts directly with the reason using koska (because).
Both are correct; the original with joten sounds slightly more like reason → consequence in a conversational tone.