Herään varhain aamulla ja olen joskus jo silloin janoinen.

I wake up early in the morning and am sometimes already thirsty then.

Breakdown of Herään varhain aamulla ja olen joskus jo silloin janoinen.

• olla: to be
• ja: and
• herätä: to wake up
• aamulla: in the morning
• joskus: sometimes
• jo: already
• varhain: early
• silloin: then
• janoinen: thirsty

Questions & Answers about Herään varhain aamulla ja olen joskus jo silloin janoinen.

Where is the word “I” in this sentence? Why is it not written?

Finnish usually omits subject pronouns when the verb ending already shows the person.

• Herään means “I wake up”.
  
  • herätä = to wake up (dictionary form)
  • herää-n = I wake up (1st person singular ending -n)

Because the ending -n clearly marks “I”, you normally don’t add minä unless you want to emphasize it:

• Herään varhain aamulla… = I wake up early in the morning… (neutral)
• Minä herään varhain aamulla… = I wake up early in the morning (contrast/emphasis on “I”)

What exactly is herään, and how is it formed?

Herään is:

• the 1st person singular form (I)
• of the verb herätä (to wake up)
• in present tense, indicative mood

Conjugation (present tense, singular):

• (minä) herää-n = I wake up
• (sinä) herää-t = you wake up
• (hän) herää = he/she wakes up

So herään = herä- (verb stem) + -n (I).

What is the difference between varhain and aikaisin for “early”? Could I say Herään aikaisin aamulla instead?

Both varhain and aikaisin mean “early”, and you can say:

• Herään aikaisin aamulla…

The difference is mostly stylistic:

• aikaisin – the most common everyday word for “early”
• varhain – a bit more literary or “neat”, but still normal and common

In this sentence, both choices are natural:

• Herään varhain aamulla…
• Herään aikaisin aamulla…

Meaning is practically the same.

Why is it aamulla and not aamuna or something else? What case is this?

Aamulla is adessive case (ending -lla/-llä) of aamu (morning).

In time expressions, the adessive is very common and usually means “at / in / on [time]”:

• aamulla = in the morning
• päivällä = in the daytime / in the afternoon
• illalla = in the evening
• yöllä = at night

So varhain aamulla = “early in the morning”.

Aamuna (essive case) is possible but different: it would mean “as a morning / on that particular morning”, and is used in more specific or descriptive contexts, not the basic “in the morning” time expression.

Isn’t varhain aamulla redundant? It already says “early” and “in the morning”.

It’s not redundant; it adds nuance.

• Herään aamulla. – I wake up in the morning. (no information about how early)
• Herään varhain. – I wake up early. (but could be early at some time of day)
• Herään varhain aamulla. – I wake up early in the morning (clarifies both time of day and that it’s an early time within that).

So varhain tells how early, and aamulla tells which part of the day.

Why is it olen janoinen instead of the more typical minulla on jano for “I am thirsty”?

Finnish has two common ways to express being thirsty:

1. Minulla on jano. – literally “I have thirst.”
   
   • Very common, neutral, used for a physical need.
2. Olen janoinen. – literally “I am thirsty” (adjective).

Differences:

• Minulla on jano

  • more basic/neutral
  • emphasizes that you have a need (thirst as a noun).

• Olen janoinen

  • uses the adjective janoinen = thirsty
  • can sound a bit more descriptive, sometimes slightly more “wordy” or stylistic.

In everyday speech, Minulla on jano is probably more frequent, but Olen janoinen is completely correct and natural, especially in more written or descriptive styles. In this sentence, using janoinen ties it neatly into the description of the state “already at that time”.

Why is janoinen in the basic form (nominative)? Shouldn’t it have some case ending?

After olla (to be), when you describe what something/someone is, adjectives are in the basic nominative form:

• Olen väsynyt. – I am tired.
• Olen onnellinen. – I am happy.
• Olen janoinen. – I am thirsty.

You only use other cases if the phrase has some additional meaning (comparison, partitive for certain structures, etc.). Here it’s a simple “I am X”, so janoinen stays in nominative.

How do joskus, jo, and silloin all work together? It feels like a lot of adverbs.

They each add a different piece of information:

• joskus = sometimes (not always)
• jo = already (earlier than expected)
• silloin = then / at that time (refers back to the time of waking up)

So:

• olen joskus = I am sometimes (not every time)
• olen joskus jo = sometimes I’m already (earlier than expected)
• olen joskus jo silloin = sometimes I’m already (thirsty) at that (waking-up) time.

All three are meaningful:

• joskus – frequency
• jo – earliness/“already”
• silloin – which time is being talked about (the time mentioned before: when I wake up early in the morning).

Can I change the order of joskus, jo, and silloin? For example, olen silloin jo joskus janoinen?

You can change the order a bit, but not completely freely if you want it to sound natural.

Most natural options here:

• …ja olen joskus jo silloin janoinen. (original)
• …ja olen joskus silloin jo janoinen.
• …ja olen jo joskus silloin janoinen.

All of these are acceptable, with slight shifts in emphasis.

But something like:

• …olen silloin jo joskus janoinen.

sounds awkward and unnatural; the frequency adverb joskus usually doesn’t go after silloin jo in this kind of sentence.

A safe rule: keep joskus relatively early in the clause (near the verb) and keep jo close to the word it modifies (here it naturally sits near silloin or the adjective janoinen).

What exactly does silloin refer to here?

Silloin means “then / at that time”, and it points back to a specific time already mentioned in the sentence:

• The earlier part: Herään varhain aamulla… – I wake up early in the morning.
• silloin = at that time when I wake up early in the morning

So the meaning is:
“…and sometimes I’m already thirsty at that moment (when I wake up early in the morning).”

It doesn’t mean a vague “then” in the sense of “after that”; it’s tied to that waking-up time.

Could I move joskus to the first clause, like Joskus herään varhain aamulla ja olen jo silloin janoinen?

Yes, that is also natural and slightly changes the focus:

• Herään varhain aamulla ja olen joskus jo silloin janoinen.

  • Neutral: I wake up early in the morning, and I am sometimes already thirsty at that time.
  • The “sometimes” modifies the second clause most clearly.

• Joskus herään varhain aamulla ja olen jo silloin janoinen.

  • “Sometimes” now clearly applies to the whole situation:
    Sometimes it happens that I wake up early in the morning and I’m already thirsty then.

Both are grammatical; they just put the “sometimes” on slightly different parts of the event.

Why is the present tense used? In English I might say “I wake up early in the morning and am sometimes already thirsty then” to mean a habitual action.

Finnish present tense covers both:

• English simple present: “I wake up…” (habit)
• English present continuous: “I am waking up…” (right now)

So:

• Herään varhain aamulla…
  can mean:
  • “I wake up early in the morning” (regular habit)
  • or, in the right context, “I’m waking up early this morning” (current situation)

Here, because the sentence talks about sometimes being thirsty, it’s clearly about a habitual situation, like English simple present.

Could I shorten the sentence by removing silloin or aamulla? For example: Herään varhain ja olen joskus jo janoinen. Is that okay?

Yes, you can shorten it, and it stays grammatical, but you lose some precision.

• Herään varhain ja olen joskus jo janoinen.

  • “I wake up early and am sometimes already thirsty.”
  • This doesn’t say when exactly you are thirsty; just at some part of that morning/period.

• Herään varhain aamulla ja olen joskus jo janoinen.

  • Still okay; “in the morning” is mentioned, but being thirsty is not explicitly tied to the exact waking-up moment.

• Herään varhain aamulla ja olen joskus jo silloin janoinen. (original)

  • The most precise: sometimes you are already thirsty at the moment when you wake up early in the morning.

So the full version gives the clearest time relation, but shorter versions are fine if you don’t need that exact nuance.