Me kävelemme tietä pitkin.

We walk along the road.

Breakdown of Me kävelemme tietä pitkin.

• kävellä: to walk
• me: we
• tie: the road
• pitkin: along

Questions & Answers about Me kävelemme tietä pitkin.

What does each word in Me kävelemme tietä pitkin mean literally?

Word by word:

• me = we
• kävelemme = (we) walk / (we) are walking
  
  • from the verb kävellä = to walk
• tietä = road in the partitive singular (literally: (some) road / of the road / the road (as a path))
  
  • basic form (nominative): tie = road
• pitkin = along

So a fairly literal rendering is:
We walk road (partitive) along. → We walk along the road.

Why do we need me if kävelemme already means we walk?

In Finnish, the personal ending on the verb already shows the subject:

• kävele-n = I walk
• kävele-t = you (sing.) walk
• kävele-mme = we walk
• etc.

So grammatically you can say:

• Kävelemme tietä pitkin. = We walk along the road.

Without me, the sentence is still complete and natural.

Why is me used then?

• To emphasize or make the subject very clear:
  Me kävelemme tietä pitkin. = We are the ones who walk along the road (not someone else).
• In everyday speech and writing, subject pronouns appear quite often, especially at beginner and intermediate levels, or for emphasis and contrast.

So me is optional here; it is not wrong, it just adds clarity/emphasis.

How is kävelemme formed from kävellä, and why is it not kävellemme?

Kävellä is a type 3 verb (ending in -lla / -llä / -rra / -sta / -stä, etc.).

Formation:

1. Take the verb kävellä (to walk).
2. Find the stem: kävele-
   
   • The -llä becomes -le- in the stem.
3. Add the we ending -mme.

So:

• kävele-
  • -mme → kävelemme

It is not kävellemme because the stem already ends in -le. You only add -mme once; you do not double the l.

Conjugation pattern (present tense):

• minä kävelen – I walk
• sinä kävelet – you walk
• hän kävelee – he/she walks
• me kävelemme – we walk
• te kävelette – you (pl.) walk
• he kävelevät – they walk

Does kävelemme mean we walk or we are walking?

It can mean both.

Finnish has only one present tense, and it usually covers:

• English simple present: We walk along the road.
• English present continuous: We are walking along the road.

So Me kävelemme tietä pitkin can be translated as either, depending on context. There is no separate continuous form in Finnish grammar.

Why is it tietä and not tie? What is this partitive form doing here?

Tie = road (basic / nominative form).
tietä is the partitive singular of tie.

With the postposition pitkin (along), Finnish normally requires the partitive case:

• tietä pitkin = along the road
• jokea pitkin = along the river
• rantaa pitkin = along the shore

So tietä is in the partitive simply because pitkin governs the partitive:
X (partitive) + pitkin = along X.

What exactly is pitkin, and where does it usually go in the sentence?

Pitkin is mainly a postposition meaning along.

Postposition means it usually comes after the noun phrase it belongs to, and that noun phrase is in the partitive:

• tietä pitkin = along the road
• metsää pitkin = along the forest
• katua pitkin = along the street

Typical pattern:

• [place in partitive] + pitkin

In the sentence:

• Me kävelemme tietä pitkin.
  subject – verb – [noun in partitive + pitkin]

So the normal, neutral order is exactly what you see: tietä pitkin.

Can I also say Me kävelemme pitkin tietä? Is that wrong?

You can hear and read pitkin tietä (with pitkin before the noun), especially in spoken language and some styles of writing. It is not unheard of.

However:

• The more standard and typical pattern is tietä pitkin (postposition).
• tietä pitkin sounds more neutral and is what you will usually see in textbooks and formal Finnish.

So:

• Me kävelemme tietä pitkin. – best choice, fully standard.
• Me kävelemme pitkin tietä. – understandable and used, but slightly less textbook‑like.

What is the difference between Me kävelemme tietä pitkin and Me kävelemme tiellä?

Both involve a road, but the nuance is different.

• Me kävelemme tietä pitkin.
  = We walk along the road (following its length).
  Focus: movement along the path of the road.

• Me kävelemme tiellä.
  = We walk on the road.
  Focus: location on the road surface, not specifically along its length. It answers where?, not necessarily in what direction?

So tietä pitkin emphasizes along, while tiellä emphasizes on / at (on the surface of) the road.

Why does tietä look so different from tie? How is tietä formed?

Nominative singular: tie = road.
Partitive singular: tietä.

Many two‑syllable words ending in -e form the partitive by:

1. Adding -tä / -tä (depending on vowel harmony), and
2. Often inserting a t before that ending.

Pattern: -e → -etä / -eä

Examples:

• huone → huonetta (room)
• perhe → perhettä (family)
• kieli → kieltä (language)
• tie → tietä (road)

So tie → tietä follows a regular pattern, even though it looks irregular from an English point of view.

Why is there no word for a or the in Me kävelemme tietä pitkin?

Finnish has no articles like English a / an / the.

The noun tietä can mean:

• along a road
• along the road

depending on context. The language simply does not mark this difference with a separate word.

If you need to be very specific, you use context or additional words:

• Me kävelemme sitä tietä pitkin.
  = We walk along that (particular) road.

But normally, tietä pitkin alone is enough, and your translation chooses a or the based on the situation.

Could this sentence be in the past tense? How would I say We walked along the road?

To make it past tense, you change the verb form; the rest stays the same:

• Me kävelemme tietä pitkin. = We walk / are walking along the road.
• Me kävelimme tietä pitkin. = We walked along the road.

Past tense of kävellä (we):

• stem käveli-
  • mme → kävelimme

So only the verb changes; tietä pitkin stays exactly the same.

Can I drop me and just say Kävelemme tietä pitkin in real life?

Yes.

Both are correct:

• Me kävelemme tietä pitkin. – We walk along the road.
• Kävelemme tietä pitkin. – We walk along the road.

Without me, the sentence is still complete; the -mme ending already marks we. In natural Finnish:

• It is very common to omit the pronoun when context is clear.
• The pronoun is added especially for emphasis, contrast, or at the start of a new topic.

So Kävelemme tietä pitkin is perfectly natural Finnish.