Villapaita on lämmin talvella.

The sweater is warm in winter.

Breakdown of Villapaita on lämmin talvella.

• olla: to be
• lämmin: warm
• talvella: in winter
• villapaita: the wool sweater

Questions & Answers about Villapaita on lämmin talvella.

Why is there no word for “a” or “the” before villapaita?

Finnish does not have articles like “a/an” or “the” at all.

Whether you mean “a wool sweater”, “the wool sweater”, or “wool sweaters in general” is understood from context, not from a separate word.

So:

• Villapaita on lämmin talvella.
  can be translated as
  
  • A wool sweater is warm in winter.
  • The wool sweater is warm in winter.
  • Wool sweaters are warm in winter. (generic statement)

English has to choose an article; Finnish simply uses the bare noun villapaita.

What form is villapaita in, grammatically?

Villapaita is in the nominative singular:

• villa = wool
• paita = shirt / sweater
• villapaita = wool sweater (compound noun)

The basic dictionary form of a Finnish noun is the nominative singular, and that’s what you see here. It’s also the normal form for the subject of a sentence, which villapaita is in this sentence.

What exactly does on mean here, and why this form?

On is the third person singular form of the verb olla = to be.

Roughly:

• olla = to be
• (hän / se) on = he/she/it is

Even though there is no pronoun like it in the Finnish sentence, on functions like “is” in English:

• Villapaita on lämmin talvella.
  = A wool sweater *is warm in winter.*

Finnish often omits subject pronouns when the subject is a noun; the verb form itself and the word order make the subject clear.

Why is lämmin not inflected (for example, why not lämmintä)?

Lämmin here is an adjective that describes the subject villapaita, and it’s used as a predicative: “The wool sweater is warm.”

In Finnish, when:

• the subject is in nominative singular (here: villapaita)
• and the predicative is an adjective

…the adjective also appears in nominative singular:

• Villapaita on lämmin. – The wool sweater is warm.

You would see forms like lämmintä (partitive) in different structures, for example:

• Haluan lämmintä teetä. – I want (some) warm tea.

But with a simple X is Y (adjective) sentence and a nominative subject, the adjective is nominative: lämmin.

What case is talvella, and why does it mean “in winter”?

Talvella is the adessive singular form of talvi (winter):

• talvi = winter
• talvella = on/at/in winter

The -lla / -llä ending is the adessive case. Literally it often means “on” or “at” a surface or place, but it is also widely used for time expressions:

• kesällä – in (the) summer
• syksyllä – in (the) autumn
• talvella – in (the) winter
• viikolla – during the week
• yöllä – at night

So talvella is the normal, idiomatic way to say “in winter”.

Why not say talvessa instead of talvella?

Talvessa is the inessive case (in the winter in a more literal, inside-something sense), but for seasons and many time expressions Finnish prefers the adessive:

• talvella (adessive) = in winter
• kesällä (adessive) = in summer
• syksyllä (adessive) = in autumn

In everyday Finnish, talvella is the standard natural choice for “in winter”.
Talvessa is possible in some more figurative or specific contexts, but it sounds marked or poetic compared to talvella in this neutral sentence.

Can I move talvella to the beginning of the sentence?

Yes. Word order is fairly flexible in Finnish, and putting talvella first is very natural:

• Talvella villapaita on lämmin.
  In winter, a wool sweater is warm.

The meaning stays the same; you just put a bit more emphasis on the time (“as for winter…”). Both:

• Villapaita on lämmin talvella.
• Talvella villapaita on lämmin.

are correct and common.

Is villapaita talking about one specific sweater or about sweaters in general?

By default, a bare singular noun like villapaita here is usually interpreted generically:

• Villapaita on lämmin talvella.
  → A wool sweater is warm in winter. / Wool sweaters are warm in winter.

So it’s more like talking about the type of clothing rather than one particular item, unless the context has already established a specific sweater.

If you wanted to clearly talk about one known, specific sweater, you would usually rely on previous context, demonstratives, or possessives, for example:

• Tämä villapaita on lämmin talvella. – This wool sweater is warm in winter.
• Se villapaita on lämmin talvella. – That (aforementioned) wool sweater is warm in winter.

How is villapaita pronounced and divided into syllables?

Villapaita is pronounced roughly:

• [vil-la-pai-ta]

Syllable division:

• vil–la–pai–ta

Notes:

• Double l in vill- means a long consonant: hold the l slightly longer than in English.
• Stress in Finnish is always on the first syllable: VIL-la-pai-ta.
• ai in pai is a diphthong like the “eye” sound in English.

What does villapaita literally mean? Is it always a sweater?

Literally, villapaita is a compound:

• villa = wool
• paita = shirt, top, sweater (a general word for a garment worn on the upper body)

Together:

• villapaita ≈ wool sweater / woollen pullover / woollen jumper

In practice, villapaita is almost always understood as a knitted wool sweater (a warm, long-sleeved top), not just any wool shirt.

Could I say villainen paita instead of villapaita?

You can, but it sounds a bit different:

• villapaita – the normal everyday word for a wool sweater (a fixed compound noun)
• villainen paita – more literally “a shirt made of wool / a woollen shirt”

Villapaita is the much more common and idiomatic way to refer to a wool sweater in general.
Villainen paita might be used in a more descriptive or stylistic context, but for a simple statement like this, villapaita is the natural choice.