Projekti etenee hitaasti.

The project is progressing slowly.

Breakdown of Projekti etenee hitaasti.

• hitaasti: slowly
• projekti: the project
• edetä: to advance

Questions & Answers about Projekti etenee hitaasti.

What does etenee literally mean, and what is its dictionary form?

Etenee comes from the verb edetä, which literally means “to advance / to progress / to move forward (in time, space, or in a process)”.

• edetä = to progress, to move forward
• etenee = 3rd person singular present tense: “(it) progresses / is progressing”

So Projekti etenee hitaasti is literally “The project progresses slowly / The project is progressing slowly.”

Why is it etenee hitaasti and not on hitaasti?

Because hitaasti is an adverb (“slowly”), and adverbs usually describe verbs, not the verb olla (“to be”).

• Projekti etenee hitaasti.
  
  • etenee = progresses (verb)
  • hitaasti = slowly (adverb describing how it progresses)

If you used on, you’d normally pair it with an adjective, not an adverb:

• Projekti on hidas. = “The project is slow.” (describes a property of the project)

So:

• Projekti etenee hitaasti. = The project is progressing slowly. (focus on the process)
• Projekti on hidas. = The project is (a) slow (one). (focus on the characteristic)

What’s the difference between hidas and hitaasti?

• hidas = an adjective: “slow”

  • Hidas auto. = A slow car.
  • Projekti on hidas. = The project is slow.

• hitaasti = an adverb: “slowly”

  • Auto liikkuu hitaasti. = The car moves slowly.
  • Projekti etenee hitaasti. = The project progresses slowly.

In Finnish, a common way to form adverbs from adjectives is by adding -sti:

• hidas → hitaasti (slow → slowly)
• nopea → nopeasti (fast → quickly)
• selvä → selvästi (clear → clearly)

What grammatical form is etenee exactly?

Etenee is:

• Person: 3rd person
• Number: singular
• Tense: present
• Mood: indicative
• Voice: active

So it corresponds to English “(it) progresses / (it) is progressing.”

The full present tense of edetä is:

• minä etenen – I progress
• sinä etenet – you progress
• hän / se etenee – he / she / it progresses
• me etenemme – we progress
• te etenette – you (pl.) progress
• he / ne etenevät – they progress

What tense is this? Does Finnish present cover “is progressing” as well?

Yes. Finnish present tense usually covers both English simple present and present continuous.

So Projekti etenee hitaasti can be translated as:

• “The project progresses slowly.”
• “The project is progressing slowly.”

Both are valid; context and preferred English style decide which sounds better. There is no separate continuous tense form in Finnish.

Why is there no word for “the” in Projekti etenee hitaasti?

Finnish has no articles like “a” or “the”.

The noun projekti (project) in Projekti etenee hitaasti can mean:

• “A project is progressing slowly.”
• “The project is progressing slowly.”

The difference between “a” and “the” is understood from context, not from a specific word in the sentence.

What form and case is projekti in?

Projekti here is:

• Case: nominative
• Number: singular
• Role: the subject of the sentence

It is just the basic dictionary form: projekti = “project”.

Because Finnish marks many functions by case endings, the subject in a simple sentence like this is typically in the nominative case.

Why is there no pronoun like se (“it”)? Could we say Se projekti etenee hitaasti?

Finnish often omits personal pronouns when the subject is already clear from context or from the verb form or a noun.

Here, projekti is the subject, so no pronoun is needed:

• Projekti etenee hitaasti. = The project is progressing slowly.

You can technically say Se projekti etenee hitaasti, but:

• Se projekti = “that project” (more specific, with a bit of emphasis or contrast)
• It sounds like you are distinguishing this particular project from others.

So the neutral version is simply Projekti etenee hitaasti.

Can I change the word order, like Hitaasti projekti etenee? Does it still mean the same?

Yes, Finnish word order is flexible, and case endings keep roles clear.
All of these are grammatically possible:

• Projekti etenee hitaasti. – neutral, default word order
• Hitaasti projekti etenee. – strongly emphasizes how slowly it progresses
• Projekti hitaasti etenee. – possible but less neutral; also puts focus on hitaasti

They all mean roughly “The project is progressing slowly,” but the emphasis shifts:

• Putting hitaasti first (= Hitaasti projekti etenee) highlights the slowness, almost like:
  “Slowly, the project progresses.” / “How slowly this project progresses!”

Could I say Projekti menee hitaasti instead of Projekti etenee hitaasti?

You could say Projekti menee hitaasti, but it sounds less natural and more vague.

• mennä = “to go,” very general
• edetä = “to advance / to make progress,” much more natural for projects, processes, schedules

So:

• Projekti etenee hitaasti. – idiomatic and precise: “The project is progressing slowly.”
• Projekti menee hitaasti. – understandable, but not the typical way to talk about project progress.

Is etenee transitive or intransitive? Can it take an object?

Edetä / etenee is intransitive: it does not take a direct object.

You talk about what is progressing:

• Projekti etenee hitaasti. – The project is progressing slowly.
• Työ etenee hyvin. – The work is progressing well.

You don’t say something like “etenen projektin” to mean “I progress the project.” Instead, you would use a different structure or a different verb (e.g. edistää = “to promote / to advance (something)”, which is transitive).