Kapea polku johtaa järveltä mökille.

A narrow path leads from the lake to the cottage.

Breakdown of Kapea polku johtaa järveltä mökille.

• -lle: to
• -lta: from
• järvi: the lake
• mökki: the cottage
• kapea polku: the narrow path
• johtaa: to lead

Questions & Answers about Kapea polku johtaa järveltä mökille.

Why is kapea before polku? Do adjectives always go before nouns in Finnish?

Yes, in Finnish an attributive adjective normally comes before the noun it describes, just like in English:

• kapea polku – a narrow path
• iso järvi – a big lake
• vanha mökki – an old cottage

When the adjective is directly modifying the noun (not separated by a verb), this is the normal word order.

The adjective also usually agrees with the noun in number and case, e.g.:

• kapea polku (nominative singular)
• kapeat polut (nominative plural)
• kapealla polulla (adessive singular: “on the narrow path”)

In your sentence it’s nominative singular because kapea polku is the subject of the sentence.

Why is polku in the basic form (nominative) and not something like polun or polkua?

The basic form (nominative singular) is used for the subject of the sentence in a simple statement:

• Kapea polku (subject) johtaa (verb) …

Other forms of polku are used for different functions:

• polun – genitive (“of the path”)
• polkua – partitive (e.g. “(some) path”, or in certain verb constructions)
• polulla – adessive (“on the path”)

Here we just need “the path” as the subject, so the nominative polku is correct.

What exactly does johtaa mean here? Is it the same verb as “to lead” in the sense of leading people?

Yes, johtaa is the same verb that means both:

1. to lead (physically) – a road/path/pipe “leads” somewhere

   • Polku johtaa mökille. – The path leads to the cottage.

2. to lead (people, organization)

   • Hän johtaa yritystä. – He/She leads / runs the company.

So it covers both meanings “to lead (a way)” and “to lead (be in charge)”.
In this sentence it’s clearly the “path leads/road goes” meaning.

A slightly more everyday alternative for “a road/path leads somewhere” could also be:

• Kapea polku vie järveltä mökille. – A narrow path takes (you) from the lake to the cottage.

But johtaa is perfectly natural and common.

Why is the verb johtaa in this exact form? How is it conjugated here?

The dictionary (basic) form is johtaa (“to lead”).

The subject is kapea polku = 3rd person singular (“it”), so we use the 3rd person singular present tense:

• (minä) johdan – I lead
• (sinä) johdat – you lead
• (hän / se) johtaa – he / she / it leads
• (me) johdamme
• (te) johdatte
• (he / ne) johtavat

So johtaa here = “(it) leads”.

What is the base form of järveltä, and why does it look so different?

The base (dictionary) form is järvi (“lake”).

When you add different case endings, järvi uses a stem järve- in many cases, and the final i becomes e:

• nominative: järvi – lake
• genitive: järven – of the lake
• adessive: järvellä – on the lake / at the lake
• elative: järveltä – from the lake
• allative: järvelle – to the lake

So järvi + -ltä → järveltä.
The sound change i → e in the stem is a regular pattern for many -i nouns in Finnish.

What does the ending -ltä in järveltä mean, and when is it used?

The ending -lta / -ltä is the elative of the “outer” local cases. It basically means:

• “from on / from at / from the surface of / from the vicinity of”

For järveltä:

• järvellä – on/at the lake
• järveltä – from the lake

You use -lta / -ltä when something moves away from a place conceived as a surface or general location:

• pöydältä – from (off) the table
• asemalta – from the (train) station
• rannalta – from the shore
• järveltä – from the lake (shore / area)

In your sentence, it expresses the starting point of the path: the path leads from the lake.

Why is mökille used instead of something like mökiin or mökin luo?

Mökille is the allative case: -lle = “to a place / onto / to someone”.
It often means:

• to a surface or area
• to the general location of something

Here:

• mökille ≈ to the cottage (to the cottage area/yard/doorstep, not necessarily into the building)

Compare:

• mökiin – illative: “into the cottage (inside the building)”
• mökin luo(n) – “to(wards) the cottage, to the vicinity of the cottage”

In everyday speech about summer cottages, mökille mennä is the standard expression for “go to the cottage (for a stay)”, so mökille is the most natural choice here.

What does the ending -lle in mökille mean, and why is there only one k instead of mökkille?

1. -lle is the allative case ending, meaning:

   • “to (a place) / onto / to (a person)”

   Examples:

   • pöydälle – onto the table
   • asemalle – to the station
   • ystävälle – to a friend

   So mökille = “to the cottage”.

2. The spelling mökille (not mökkille) comes from consonant gradation:

• base: mökki (“cottage”) – strong grade kk
• many case forms use a weak grade stem möki-:
  • mökkiä (partitive)
  • mökin (genitive)
  • mökille (allative)

So the form is: möki- + -lle → mökille.
That’s why one k disappears.

Is the word order fixed? Could you say Järveltä kapea polku johtaa mökille or Kapea polku mökille johtaa järveltä?

Finnish word order is more flexible than English, but not completely free. All of these are grammatically possible:

1. Kapea polku johtaa järveltä mökille.
   – Neutral, straightforward statement.

2. Järveltä kapea polku johtaa mökille.
   – Emphasis on järveltä: “From the lake, a narrow path leads to the cottage.”
   (For example, contrasting it with another starting point.)

3. Mökille johtaa kapea polku järveltä.
   – Emphasizes mökille: “To the cottage leads a narrow path from the lake.”
   (Perhaps describing the only access.)

In spoken Finnish, version 1 is by far the most typical. Others are used for focus/emphasis or stylistic variation.

Why are there no words for “a” or “the” in the Finnish sentence? How do you know if it means “a narrow path” or “the narrow path”?

Finnish has no articles like English a/an or the. The bare noun can correspond to any of:

• kapea polku → “a narrow path” / “the narrow path” / “narrow path”

Which one it feels like in English depends on context:

• If the path hasn’t been mentioned before: usually read as “a narrow path”.
• If it’s clear from context that there is a specific known path: you’d naturally translate as “the narrow path”.

To stress “this specific known one”, you can add words:

• se kapea polku – that narrow path / the narrow path
• juuri se kapea polku – that very narrow path

But grammatically, nothing changes in the original sentence: no article is needed.

Is there a rule about the order järveltä mökille (from–to)? Could it be mökille järveltä?

The natural order for expressing movement is usually:

• FROM place
  • TO
  place
  → järveltä mökille (from the lake to the cottage)

You can swap them:

• mökille järveltä – to the cottage from the lake

but that sounds less neutral and more marked; it may be used with a particular rhythmic or emphatic effect. In normal prose or speech you almost always say järveltä mökille.

How would you say “Narrow paths lead from the lake to the cottage” in Finnish? What changes?

You make both the subject and the verb plural:

• Kapeat polut johtavat järveltä mökille.

Changes:

• kapea polku → kapeat polut

  • adjective to plural: kapea → kapeat
  • noun to plural: polku → polut

• johtaa → johtavat (3rd person plural present)

The rest (järveltä mökille) stays the same, because those are not the subject.