Learn Hardcore Finnish: Lapsi juoksee pöydän alle.

In Finnish, when you say that something moves to a position under something, the “something” often appears in the genitive. Here, the child is moving to a location that is conceptually “under the table,” so pöydän literally means “of the table” or “the table’s”.

So you can think of pöydän alle as “to under the table” or more literally “to under the table’s (space).”

What is the difference between pöydän alle and pöydän alla?

pöydän alle = to under the table (movement into that position, direction towards it)
pöydän alla = under the table (location, already there, no movement implied)

So:

Lapsi juoksee pöydän alle. = The child runs to under the table (they start somewhere else and end up under the table).
Lapsi on pöydän alla. = The child is under the table (already in that location).

-lle / -lle-type endings (like -lle, -lle, here -lle → -alle with vowel harmony) are often about movement towards a place, while -lla / -llä / -lla-type endings are about being at/on a place.

What case is alle, and what does it literally mean?

Alle is the illative form (a type of “into/to” case) of alla (“under”).

alla = under (static location)
alle = to under, into the position “under” (direction, movement)

So pöydän alle literally means “to under (the) table.” It expresses movement into a position underneath something.

Why is juoksee used and not just juokse?

Juoksee is the 3rd person singular present tense form of the verb juosta (to run).

The pattern is:

minä juoksen – I run
sinä juokset – you (sg) run
hän juoksee – he/she runs
lapsi juoksee – the child runs

So juoksee matches lapsi (he/she/it/child) in person and number. The bare stem juokse on its own is not a correct finite verb form in a sentence like this.

How can I tell that lapsi means “the child” and not just “a child”?

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

Lapsi by itself can mean:

a child,
the child,
or just “child” in a generic sense,

depending entirely on context.

In this specific sentence, if you are talking about a particular child already known to the listener, you would understand it as “the child runs under the table.” If you are describing a random situation with no specific child in mind, you might translate it as “a child runs under the table.”

The Finnish sentence doesn’t force one or the other; the context in English forces you to pick a or the.

Why is the word order Lapsi juoksee pöydän alle and not something like Pöydän alle lapsi juoksee?

The basic neutral word order in Finnish is:

Subject – Verb – Other elements

So:

Lapsi (subject)
juoksee (verb)
pöydän alle (direction/movement phrase)

This gives a neutral, simple statement.

However, Finnish word order is fairly flexible for emphasis. You could say:

Pöydän alle lapsi juoksee.

This would be more emphatic, often highlighting where the child runs, e.g. in contrast to somewhere else:

Pöydän alle lapsi juoksee, ei tuolille.
It’s under the table that the child runs, not onto the chair.

Grammatically both are fine; the first is just the most neutral.

Could you replace juoksee with menee here? What would change?

Yes, you could say:

Lapsi menee pöydän alle.

The difference:

juoksee = runs (specifically running, faster, more dynamic)
menee = goes (neutral verb of movement, doesn’t specify how: walking, running, etc.)

So:

Lapsi juoksee pöydän alle. = The child runs under the table.
Lapsi menee pöydän alle. = The child goes under the table (walks, crawls, runs – not specified).

Is pöydän alle one unit, like a prepositional phrase in English?

Functionally, yes.

In English, “under the table” is a prepositional phrase. In Finnish there is no separate preposition like “under”; instead, you have:

The noun in genitive: pöydän (of the table)
A case ending on a postposition/adverbial: alle (to under)

Together pöydän alle behaves like one directional phrase meaning “to under the table.”

So it plays the same role as a prepositional phrase, but it is built with cases instead of a separate word like “under.”

Is pöydän always genitive when used before alle, or can it take other cases?

With alla / alle (under / to under), the thing you are “under” is typically in the genitive:

pöydän alla – under the table
pöydän alle – to under the table

You would not normally use other cases (like nominative pöytä) in this construction. The pattern is:

[GENITIVE] + alla/alle

Similarly:

auton alla – under the car
sängyn alle – to under the bed

So in this structure, genitive is the standard and expected form.

How do I know this sentence is in the present tense and not the past?

The verb form juoksee is present tense. For juosta (“to run”), the relevant forms are:

hän juoksee – he/she runs (present)
hän juoksi – he/she ran (past)

So:

Lapsi juoksee pöydän alle. = The child runs / is running under the table (present)
Lapsi juoksi pöydän alle. = The child ran under the table (past)

There is no separate auxiliary like “is” or “does” here; the tense is expressed by the verb ending and stem changes.

Why isn’t there a separate word meaning “under” in the sentence?

Finnish often uses cases and postpositions instead of separate prepositions like under, in, on.

Here:

alla and alle are formed from an old postposition alla meaning “under,” but it’s now tightly fused with the case system.

Instead of:

“under the table” → preposition + article + noun

Finnish uses:

pöydän alle → genitive noun + directional form (illative) of “under”

So the idea of “under” is built into the forms alla/alle and combined with the genitive pöydän, rather than being a separate little word like in English.

Could Lapsi juoksee pöydän alla ever be correct, and what would it mean?

Yes, Lapsi juoksee pöydän alla is also grammatically correct, but the meaning changes:

Lapsi juoksee pöydän alle. – The child runs to under the table (movement into that location).
Lapsi juoksee pöydän alla. – The child runs under the table (already under it and moving around there).

So:

alle: the endpoint is under the table (direction, goal).
alla: the child’s current/ongoing location is under the table (running around while under it).