Minä otan sadevaatteen mukaan, kun sataa.

I take the rainwear with me when it rains.

Breakdown of Minä otan sadevaatteen mukaan, kun sataa.

• minä: I
• kun: when
• sataa: to rain
• ottaa mukaan: to take along
• sadevaate: the rainwear

Questions & Answers about Minä otan sadevaatteen mukaan, kun sataa.

Do I have to say Minä, or can I just say Otan sadevaatteen mukaan, kun sataa?

You can absolutely drop Minä and just say:

• Otan sadevaatteen mukaan, kun sataa.

In Finnish, the personal ending on the verb (-n in otan) already shows the subject (I), so the pronoun is usually left out.

You keep Minä mainly for emphasis or contrast, for example:

• Minä otan sadevaatteen mukaan, mutta hän ei ota.
  I take rainwear with me, but he/she doesn’t.

So:

• Neutral / normal: Otan sadevaatteen mukaan, kun sataa.
• Emphatic: Minä otan sadevaatteen mukaan, kun sataa.

Why is it otan and not ottaa? What tense is this?

Otan is the present tense, 1st person singular form of the verb ottaa (to take):

• infinitive (dictionary form): ottaa
• I take: otan
• you take: otat
• he/she/it takes: ottaa

Finnish has no separate future tense. The present tense often covers both present and future meanings. So otan can mean:

• I take / I am taking (present)
• I will take (future, context-dependent)

In this sentence, otan is naturally understood as I will take (because of the when it rains context), but grammatically it’s just present tense.

Why is it sadevaatteen and not just sadevaate?

Sadevaate is the basic form (nominative singular) and means a piece of rainwear / rain garment.

In the sentence, sadevaatteen is the object of the verb otan (I take what? → the rainwear garment). In Finnish, a complete, singular object of this type usually appears in the genitive/accusative form, which for sadevaate is:

• nominative: sadevaate
• genitive/accusative (total object): sadevaatteen

So:

• Otan sadevaate. → incorrect
• Otan sadevaatteen. → correct (I take the/a rain garment.)

Why not sadevaatetta instead of sadevaatteen?

Sadevaatetta is the partitive form of sadevaate. The choice between sadevaatteen and sadevaatetta is about aspect and completeness:

• Otan sadevaatteen mukaan.
  → total object: you take one whole, identifiable item of rainwear along (the action is viewed as complete).

• Otan sadevaatetta mukaan.
  → partitive object: in this context it would sound like you’re taking some rainwear (an unspecified amount, or only part of some larger set). It’s unusual with a single garment word like sadevaate.

For a normal, concrete statement like in the example, sadevaatteen (total object) is the natural choice.

What exactly does sadevaate mean, and is it really used in everyday Finnish?

Literally, sadevaate = sade (rain) + vaate (a piece of clothing).

• sadevaate in singular often means a rain garment (e.g. a raincoat, rain suit, etc.).
• In practice, Finns more often say:
  • sadetakki = raincoat
  • sadevaatteet (plural) = rain clothes / rain gear

So you might naturally hear:

• Otan sadevaatteet mukaan, kun sataa. – I take my rain clothes with me when it rains.
• Otan sadetakin mukaan, kun sataa. – I take my raincoat with me when it rains.

Your sentence with sadevaatteen is correct and understandable, just a bit textbook-like.

Why is the form sadevaatteen spelled with a double t (vaate → vaatteen)?

Sadevaate is a compound:

• sade (rain)
• vaate (clothing, garment)

When vaate is inflected, its stem changes:

• nominative: vaate
• genitive: vaatteen
• partitive: vaatetta
• nominative plural: vaatteet

So the genitive/accusative singular of sadevaate is:

• sadevaate → sadevaatteen

The double t (and long vowel) is just a regular pattern for words ending in -ate / -e, like:

• huone → huoneen (room → of the room)
• vaate → vaatteen (garment → of the garment)

What does mukaan mean exactly, and why not use kanssa for “with”?

Mukaan is a postposition that (in this context) means:

• along (with you), to take/bring along

The common verb phrase is:

• ottaa jotain mukaan = to take something along (with you)

Examples:

• Otan sateenvarjon mukaan. – I’ll take an umbrella (along).
• Otatko eväät mukaan? – Are you taking the snacks with you?

Kanssa means with, together with (in company with):

• Olen ystäväni kanssa. – I’m with my friend.
• Juon kahvia maidon kanssa. – I drink coffee with milk.

You would not normally say:

• ✗ Otan sadevaatteen kanssa.

So ottaa mukaan is the idiomatic choice when you bring something along.

Why is there a comma before kun? Is it really necessary?

Yes. In standard written Finnish, you almost always put a comma before a subordinate clause, and kun introduces a time clause (subordinate):

• Otan sadevaatteen mukaan, kun sataa.

If you change the word order, the comma moves correspondingly:

• Kun sataa, otan sadevaatteen mukaan.

So:

• Main clause + ,
  • kun-clause
• Kun-clause + ,
  • main clause

In informal speech, people don’t hear commas of course, but in writing the comma is considered correct and standard.

Can kun here mean “if”, or should that be jos? What’s the difference?

Kun and jos both connect clauses, but they’re used differently:

• kun = when (time), often for something seen as real, factual, or expected.
• jos = if (condition), often for hypothetical or uncertain situations.

In your sentence:

• Otan sadevaatteen mukaan, kun sataa.
  → I take / I’ll take rainwear along when it rains (whenever that happens; it’s treated as a real or typical situation).

If you say:

• Otan sadevaatteen mukaan, jos sataa.
  → I’ll take rainwear along if it rains (only on the condition that it rains; it might or might not rain).

Both are grammatically correct, but they express slightly different ideas (time vs condition).

Why doesn’t sataa have a subject like “it” in English?

In Finnish, weather verbs are typically impersonal:

• Sataa. – It’s raining.
• Sataa lunta. – It’s snowing (snow is falling).
• Tuulee. – It’s windy / The wind is blowing.
• Ulkona ukkostaa. – There’s a thunderstorm outside.

There is no dummy subject like English it. The verb is in 3rd person singular, but stands alone.

You might sometimes see Sataa vettä (it is raining water), but you do not normally say Se sataa in standard Finnish to mean it is raining; just Sataa is enough.

Can I change the word order to Kun sataa, otan (minä) sadevaatteen mukaan?

Yes. Both versions are correct:

• Otan sadevaatteen mukaan, kun sataa.
• Kun sataa, otan sadevaatteen mukaan.

The meaning is the same. The difference is just emphasis and rhythm:

• Starting with Kun sataa puts more focus on the condition/time ("When it rains...").
• Starting with Otan sadevaatteen mukaan starts with what you do.

You can also insert minä for emphasis:

• Kun sataa, minä otan sadevaatteen mukaan.

All of these are grammatical.

Could I also say Otan sadevaatteet mukaan, kun sataa (plural)? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, and that’s actually very natural:

• Otan sadevaatteet mukaan, kun sataa.

This uses:

• sadevaatteet = plural rain clothes, rainwear (as a set: jacket + pants, etc.)

Nuance:

• sadevaatteen (singular) → one item of rainwear (a garment).
• sadevaatteet (plural) → your rain clothes as a set.

Both are correct; in everyday speech sadevaatteet mukaan is probably more common.