Questions & Answers about Kirjekuori on pöydällä.
Finnish does not have articles like the or a/an at all.
Whether you mean an envelope or the envelope is understood from context, not from a separate word. So:
- Kirjekuori on pöydällä.
can mean either- An envelope is on the table. or
- The envelope is on the table.
If the context has already introduced the envelope, listeners will understand it as the envelope; if not, they will usually interpret it as an envelope.
Kirjekuori is in the nominative singular form, which is the basic dictionary form of a noun.
In this sentence, kirjekuori is the subject (the thing that exists / is somewhere), and subjects are normally in the nominative case:
- Kirjekuori on pöydällä. – The envelope (subject) is on the table.
The table word pöytä changes to pöydällä because it shows location (on the table), so it needs a locative case ending. The subject just stays in its basic form.
The ending -lla / -llä marks the adessive case in Finnish.
The adessive case often corresponds to English on or at and sometimes by / with depending on context. In this sentence:
- pöytä (table)
- pöydällä = on the table / on top of the table
Very rough rule of thumb:
- -ssa / -ssä (inessive) often means in (inside something)
- -lla / -llä (adessive) often means on / at (on a surface or at a place)
Examples:
- Tuoli on huoneessa. – The chair is in the room.
- Tuoli on pöydällä. – The chair is on the table.
- Olen asemalla. – I am at the station.
So in Kirjekuori on pöydällä, -llä is doing the job English does with the preposition on.
This is because of a regular sound change in Finnish called consonant gradation.
The dictionary form is pöytä. When you add the -lla / -llä ending, the t in the middle of the word weakens to d:
- strong grade: pöytä
- weak grade: pöydä-
- -llä → pöydällä
Many Finnish words with k, p, t in certain positions have a strong and weak grade that appear in different cases and forms. You just have to learn the pattern over time.
So pöydällä is the normal, correct adessive form of pöytä.
On is the third person singular form of the verb olla (to be).
The basic present-tense forms of olla are:
- minä olen – I am
- sinä olet – you are (singular)
- hän on – he / she is
- se on – it is
- me olemme – we are
- te olette – you are (plural / formal)
- he ovat – they are
In Kirjekuori on pöydällä, the subject is singular (kirjekuori), so you use on = is:
- Kirjekuori on pöydällä. – The envelope is on the table.
Yes, Pöydällä on kirjekuori is fully correct, and the basic meaning is the same.
However, the word order changes the focus a bit:
Kirjekuori on pöydällä.
- Typically: we are talking about the envelope, and we say where it is.
- Roughly: The envelope is (located) on the table.
Pöydällä on kirjekuori.
- Typically: we are talking about the table / place, and we say what is there.
- Roughly: On the table, there is an envelope.
So if the location is already known or is the starting point, Pöydällä on kirjekuori often feels more natural, especially when you first introduce the existence of something at that place.
To negate on, you use the negative verb ei plus the basic form ole:
- Kirjekuori ei ole pöydällä. – The envelope is not on the table.
Structure:
- Kirjekuori – subject
- ei – negative verb
- ole – basic form of olla used in negation
- pöydällä – on the table
If the subject were plural, you would change ei, not ole:
- Kirjekuoret eivät ole pöydällä. – The envelopes are not on the table.
(eivät = third person plural negative)
Here are a few useful variations:
The envelopes are on the table.
- Kirjekuoret ovat pöydällä.
- kirjekuoret – plural nominative (envelopes)
- ovat – they are (3rd person plural of olla)
- pöydällä – on the table (still singular; one table)
The envelope is on the tables.
- Kirjekuori on pöydillä.
- pöydillä – plural adessive of pöytä (on the tables)
The envelopes are on the tables.
- Kirjekuoret ovat pöydillä.
So:
- Singular table: pöydällä – on the table
Plural tables: pöydillä – on the tables
- Singular envelope: kirjekuori
- Plural envelopes: kirjekuoret
No, they just look the same by coincidence.
- Finnish on is a verb form: third person singular of olla (to be).
- English on is a preposition showing location.
In the Finnish sentence, the meaning on (top of) is carried by the -llä ending:
- Kirjekuori on pöydällä.
Literally: Envelope is table-on.
So:
- on = is
- pöydällä (with -llä) = on the table
Not as a normal, complete sentence.
Finnish verbs are usually required, so a standard sentence needs on:
- Kirjekuori on pöydällä. – correct full sentence
You might see or hear Kirjekuori pöydällä in:
- Headlines / labels / lists / notes, where verbs are often dropped,
e.g. on a to‑do list or as a photo caption.
In normal spoken or written sentences, you need the verb on.
Approximate pronunciation (using English-like hints):
kirjekuori: KEER-yeh-koo-ree
- k as in key
- i like ee in see
- r is rolled or tapped
- j like y in yes
- stress always on the first syllable: KIR-je-kuo-ri
pöydällä: roughly PEU-dal-lah (with a front vowel)
- ö is like German ö, similar to British ur in nurse but with rounded lips
- y is like German ü, a high front rounded vowel
- ä is like a in cat
- double ll is a longer l; consonant length can change meaning in Finnish
- stress on the first syllable: PÖY-däl-lä
The sounds ä and ö are distinct phonemes, so it’s worth practicing them carefully.
Yes, many very common place words use the adessive -lla / -llä ending to express on / at:
- pöydällä – on the table (pöytä)
- asemalla – at the station (asema)
- pihalla – in the yard / outside (piha)
- rannalla – on the beach / at the shore (ranta)
- pysäkillä – at the (bus) stop (pysäkki)
- työssä vs. työllä is another pattern, but for simple location you’ll meet many -lla/-llä forms.
These all follow the same idea:
location noun + -lla/-llä = on / at [that place].