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Ennen kilpailua lämmittelemme kentällä muutaman minuutin.

Ennen kilpailua lämmittelemme kentällä muutaman minuutin.
Before the competition we warm up on the field for a few minutes.
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Questions & Answers about Ennen kilpailua lämmittelemme kentällä muutaman minuutin.

Why is it ennen kilpailua and not ennen kilpailu?

Ennen is an adposition that always takes its complement in the partitive case.

  • kilpailu = competition (nominative)
  • kilpailua = competition (partitive singular)

So the pattern is:

  • ennen + partitive
    • ennen kilpailua = before the competition
    • ennen iltaa = before the evening
    • ennen lähtöä = before the departure

Using ennen kilpailu (nominative) would be grammatically wrong here; the partitive kilpailua is required by ennen, not chosen freely.

What does lämmittelemme literally mean, and how is it formed?

Lämmittelemme means “we warm up” (as in do warm‑up exercises).

It comes from the verb lämmitellä:

  • Dictionary form: lämmitellä (to warm up, to get warm / loosen up)
  • Stem in the present: lämmittele‑
  • Personal ending for we: ‑mme

So:

  • lämmittele‑ + ‑mme → lämmittelemme = we warm up

Grammatically:

  • tense: present
  • person/number: 1st person plural
  • verb type: type 3 (‑lla / ‑llä verbs)
Why is there no separate word for “we” in the sentence?

In Finnish, the personal ending on the verb usually makes a separate subject pronoun unnecessary.

  • lämmittelemme already contains the information “we” (‑mme ending)
  • Saying me lämmittelemme is possible, but me is only added for emphasis or contrast:
    • Me lämmittelemme, mutta he eivät lämmittele.
      = We warm up, but they don’t.

So the default is to omit the pronoun when it’s clear from the verb form.

What is the difference between lämmittelemme and lämmitämme?

They come from two different verbs and don’t mean the same thing.

  1. lämmitellä → lämmittelemme

    • meaning: to warm up (oneself), to do warm‑up exercises, to get warm gradually, often a bit casually
    • in this sentence: exercise before a competition

  2. lämmittää → lämmitämme

    • basic meaning: to heat / warm something
      • lämmitämme saunaa = we heat the sauna
      • lämmitämme taloa = we heat the house
    • you normally need an object (what you are heating)

So:

  • lämmittelemme kentällä = we (ourselves) warm up on the field
  • lämmitämme kenttää = we heat (up) the field (e.g. with heating equipment), which would sound strange in this context

For pre‑sport exercise, lämmitellä is the natural verb.

Why is kentällä in that form, and what is the difference between kentällä, kentälle, and kentältä?

The root is kenttä = field, court, pitch.

Here you have three common “place” cases:

  1. kentällä (adessive) – on the field (location)
    • lämmittelemme kentällä = we warm up on the field
  2. kentälle (allative) – onto the field (movement to)
    • menemme kentälle = we go onto the field
  3. kentältä (ablative) – from the field (movement from)
    • tulemme kentältä = we come from the field

In the sentence, the idea is a place where the warming up happens, so the static location form kentällä is correct.

How does muutaman minuutin work grammatically? Why is minuutin singular?

muutaman minuutin means “for a few minutes”.

Breakdown:

  • muutama = a few
    • genitive singular: muutaman
  • minuutti = minute
    • genitive singular: minuutin

So muutaman minuutin is literally “of a few minutes” (both words in genitive singular) and functions as a time‑duration expression.

Two key points:

  1. muutama always takes its noun in the singular, even though the meaning is plural:

    • muutama minuutti = a few minutes
    • muutaman minuutin = of a few minutes / for a few minutes

  2. In Finnish, time durations like “for an hour / for two days / for a few minutes” often use a genitive form without any preposition:

    • odotin tunnin = I waited (for) an hour
    • olin siellä viikon = I was there (for) a week
    • lämmittelemme muutaman minuutin = we warm up (for) a few minutes

So, no word for “for” is needed; the case ending ‑n on minuutin does that job.

Could you also say muutamia minuutteja here? What would change?

Yes, you could say:

  • lämmittelemme kentällä muutamia minuutteja

It is grammatically correct and would still mean roughly “we warm up on the field for a few minutes”, but there is a nuance:

  • muutaman minuutin
    • both singular
    • sounds a bit more exact, like a relatively small “few” (3–4 minutes, for example)
  • muutamia minuutteja
    • both words plural partitive
    • feels less exact and more like some minutes / several minutes, with a slightly more open range

In practice, both are possible; muutaman minuutin is very common in this specific phrase.

Is the word order fixed, or can I move ennen kilpailua to another position?

The word order is not fixed; Finnish allows flexible word order, especially with adverbials.

Your sentence:

  • Ennen kilpailua lämmittelemme kentällä muutaman minuutin.

Possible alternatives:

  • Lämmittelemme kentällä muutaman minuutin ennen kilpailua.
  • Kentällä lämmittelemme ennen kilpailua muutaman minuutin.

All are grammatical. The differences are subtle emphasis shifts:

  • Starting with Ennen kilpailua highlights the time frame: what happens before the competition.
  • Putting ennen kilpailua at the end can make it sound a bit more like an afterthought or added detail.

But in everyday speech or writing, all of these would be understood the same.

Can ennen also be followed by a full clause, like ennen kuin kilpailu alkaa? What’s the difference?

Yes. Ennen can be used in two main ways:

  1. With a noun in the partitive:

    • ennen kilpailua = before the competition
    • ennen aamiaista = before breakfast

  2. With a clause, using “ennen kuin”:

    • ennen kuin kilpailu alkaa = before the competition starts
    • ennen kuin lähdemme = before we leave

Difference in nuance:

  • ennen kilpailua is shorter and treats the competition as a time point/event.
  • ennen kuin kilpailu alkaa explicitly mentions the start and is a bit more detailed or explicit.

For this sentence, both are acceptable:

  • Ennen kilpailua lämmittelemme…
  • Ennen kuin kilpailu alkaa, lämmittelemme…

The original is simply more compact.

Would Finns ever say lämmitellään kentällä instead of lämmittelemme kentällä?

Yes, especially in spoken Finnish, people very often use the impersonal/passive form lämmitellään to mean “we warm up”:

  • Ennen kilpailua lämmitellään kentällä muutaman minuutin.

Literally, this is like “(one) warms up on the field”, but in context it usually means “we” (or “the team / people involved here”).

So:

  • lämmittelemme = standard, clearly “we warm up”
  • lämmitellään = very common spoken form, “we warm up” in everyday speech