Koira seisoo parvekkeella.

The dog is standing on the balcony.

Breakdown of Koira seisoo parvekkeella.

• koira: the dog
• -lla: on
• parveke: the balcony
• seisoa: to stand

Questions & Answers about Koira seisoo parvekkeella.

Why is there no word for “the” (or “a”) in Koira seisoo parvekkeella?

Finnish has no articles like English “the” or “a/an”.
The bare noun koira can mean either “a dog” or “the dog”, depending on context.

• If the dog is already known from context, you’d translate it as “The dog is standing on the balcony.”
• If it’s the first time you mention it, you might translate it as “A dog is standing on the balcony.”

If you really want to make it clearly “that dog” or “this dog”, you can add a demonstrative:

• Se koira seisoo parvekkeella. – That dog is standing on the balcony.
• Tuo koira seisoo parvekkeella. – That dog (over there) is standing on the balcony.

Why is it koira and not koiran or some other form?

Koira is in the nominative singular, which is the basic dictionary form and is used for the subject of the sentence.

• Koira seisoo parvekkeella. – The/A dog is standing on the balcony.

Koiran would be the genitive (often “of the dog” or “the dog’s”) or sometimes an object form:

• Koiran parveke – the dog’s balcony
• Näen koiran. – I see the dog.

Here, because “dog” is the subject that is doing the standing, nominative koira is correct.

What exactly does the verb form seisoo tell us?

The verb seisoo is the 3rd person singular, present tense of seisoa (to stand).

• seisoa – infinitive, to stand
• seison – I stand
• seisot – you (sing.) stand
• seisoo – he/she/it stands, the dog stands

Finnish has no separate “continuous” form like is standing, so seisoo can mean both:

• The dog stands on the balcony.
• The dog is standing on the balcony.

Context (and sometimes time adverbs like nyt – now) gives the nuance:

• Koira seisoo nyt parvekkeella. – The dog is standing on the balcony now.

How does parvekkeella mean “on the balcony”?

The basic noun is parveke – balcony.
To express location “on / at” something, Finnish uses the adessive case, which has the ending -lla / -llä.

parveke + -lla → parvekkeella
This usually corresponds to English “on the balcony” (or “at the balcony” in some contexts).

So the whole sentence literally is something like:
Koira seisoo parvekkeella. → Dog stands on-the-balcony.

Why does parveke become parvekkeella with a double k?

This is an example of a stem change that happens in many Finnish words when you add case endings.

• Nominative (dictionary form): parveke – balcony
• Stem for cases: parvekke-
• Adessive: parvekkeella – on the balcony

You don’t add an extra k by rule yourself; you just have to learn that the stem of parveke is parvekke-. Many words in -ke behave like this:

• huone → huoneessa (in the room, different pattern)
• perhonen → perhosen / perhoseen (butterfly’s / into the butterfly)

So, think: parveke → parvekke- + -lla = parvekkeella.

Is parvekkeella more like “on the balcony” or “in the balcony”?

Parvekkeella is normally understood as “on the balcony” (in the sense of being out on it, standing there).

Finnish distinguishes:

• parvekkeella – adessive: on/at the balcony (on its surface/area)
• parvekkeessa – inessive: in the balcony (physically inside something; this is rarely used for a balcony in everyday speech, because a balcony is open, not enclosing you like a room)

So in natural English, parvekkeella almost always translates as “on the balcony.”

How would I say “onto the balcony” or “from the balcony”?

Finnish uses a three-case system for “on / onto / from” with the -lla series:

• on / at the balcony: parvekkeella (adessive, -lla)
• onto / to the balcony: parvekkeelle (allative, -lle)
• from off / from the balcony: parvekkeelta (ablative, -lta)

Examples:

• Koira juoksee parvekkeelle. – The dog runs onto the balcony.
• Koira hyppää parvekkeelta. – The dog jumps from the balcony.
• Koira seisoo parvekkeella. – The dog is standing on the balcony.

Could I also say Parvekkeella seisoo koira? Does that mean the same thing?

Yes, Parvekkeella seisoo koira is correct, but the focus shifts.

• Koira seisoo parvekkeella.
  – Neutral subject–verb–place order. More like The dog is standing on the balcony.

• Parvekkeella seisoo koira.
  – Starts with the place, feels more like On the balcony, there is a dog standing.
  This often introduces a new or unexpected dog: “There’s a dog (standing) on the balcony.”

So both are grammatical; the second is closer to an existential “there is a dog” structure.

How would I say “There is a dog on the balcony” (without emphasizing the standing)?

To simply state existence/location, Finnish usually uses olla (to be):

• Parvekkeella on koira. – There is a dog on the balcony.

Compare:

• Parvekkeella on koira. – Focus on the existence/location of a dog there.
• Parvekkeella seisoo koira. – Focus on the action of standing; suggests what the dog is doing, not just that it exists there.

How do I make this sentence plural, like “The dogs are standing on the balcony”?

You need to make both the subject and the verb plural:

• Singular: Koira seisoo parvekkeella. – The dog is standing on the balcony.
• Plural: Koirat seisovat parvekkeella. – The dogs are standing on the balcony.

Changes:

• koira → koirat (plural nominative)
• seisoo → seisovat (3rd person plural present of seisoa)

Why doesn’t Finnish use a separate continuous tense like English “is standing”?

Finnish generally has only a simple present form, which covers both:

• habitual actions (The dog stands on the balcony every day.)
• ongoing actions (The dog is standing on the balcony right now.)

So Koira seisoo parvekkeella can be translated as either:

• The dog stands on the balcony.
• The dog is standing on the balcony.

If it’s important to show that the action is happening right now, you usually add a time word:

• Koira seisoo nyt parvekkeella. – The dog is standing on the balcony now.

There is also a special “-massa” form (on seisomassa parvekkeella), but that adds a more nuanced meaning (being in the process of standing/doing that activity) and is not needed in the basic sentence.

Can I drop koira and just say Seisoo parvekkeella?

Normally, no. In Finnish you usually keep the noun subject, especially for third person.

• Seison parvekkeella. – I am standing on the balcony. (subject is in the verb ending -n)
• Seisoo parvekkeella. – grammatically has a 3rd person subject “he/she/it”, but without a noun or pronoun it sounds incomplete unless the subject is extremely clear from context (like a caption under a picture).

In normal, clear sentences you would say:

• Koira seisoo parvekkeella. – The dog is standing on the balcony.

How should I pronounce Koira seisoo parvekkeella?

Key points:

• Stress is always on the first syllable of each word:
  • KOI-ra SEI-soo PAR-vek-keel-la
• Double consonants (kk) are held longer than a single consonant:
  • parvekkeella – the kk is noticeably longer than the k in parveke.
• Double vowels (oo, ee) are also long:
  • seisoo – the oo is held longer than in a short vowel.
  • parvekkeella – ee and aa are long.

If you pronounce both double consonants and double vowels clearly longer, you’ll sound much more natural in Finnish.