Uudenvuodenaattona pysyn kotona ja katson elokuvaa.

On New Year's Eve I stay at home and watch a movie.

Breakdown of Uudenvuodenaattona pysyn kotona ja katson elokuvaa.

• kotona: at home
• ja: and
• katsoa: to watch
• pysyä: to stay
• elokuva: the movie
• uudenvuodenaattona: on New Year’s Eve

Questions & Answers about Uudenvuodenaattona pysyn kotona ja katson elokuvaa.

Why is Uudenvuodenaattona written as one long word? How is it built up?

Uudenvuodenaattona is a compound word made from several pieces:

• uuden = genitive of uusi (new)
• vuoden = genitive of vuosi (year)
• aatto = eve
• -na = essive case ending (here: “on (that day)”)

Historically it comes from uuden vuoden aattona = on the eve of the new year.

In standard modern Finnish, this has been fused into one compound:

• Uudenvuodenaatto = New Year’s Eve (noun)
• Uudenvuodenaattona = on New Year’s Eve (adverbial expression of time)

You may also see uuden vuoden aattona written as separate words, especially in more formal or careful writing, but the one-word version is very common and fully correct.

Why is it uuden and not uusi or uudet? What is that form?

Uuden is the genitive singular form of uusi (new).

• nominative: uusi vuosi = new year
• genitive: uuden vuoden = of the new year

So uuden here belongs to the phrase uuden vuoden aatto = the eve of the new year.

When it’s turned into a compound (Uudenvuodenaatto), that genitive uuden stays in its genitive form at the beginning of the compound.

What case is aattona, and what does the ending -na mean?

Aattona is in the essive case. The essive singular ending is -na/-nä.

For time expressions, the essive often means “on (that day / at that time)”:

• maanantaina = on Monday
• kesällä (inessive) / kesäaikaan (genitive + aikaan) / kesänä (essive): different nuances of “in summer / during the summer”
• syntymäpäivänä = on (one’s) birthday

Here:

• aatto = eve
• aattona = on the eve

So Uudenvuodenaattona literally means on the (New Year’s) Eve.

Why is it kotona and not kotiin or just koti?

All three forms exist, but they mean different things:

• kotona = at home (location, static)
• kotiin = (to) home (movement towards home)
• kotoa = from home (movement away from home)
• bare koti = used mostly as a basic dictionary form or in some phrases; for location/direction you usually need the local case ending.

The verb pysyä (to stay) describes staying in one place, so you need the “at”-form:

• pysyn kotona = I stay at home
• Menin kotiin = I went home
• Lähdin kotoa = I left home

Note that koti is irregular here: instead of “kodissa” you get the special form kotona for “at home”.

What do pysyn and katson tell us? How are they formed?

Both are 1st person singular, present tense, active:

• dictionary form (infinitive): pysyä = to stay

  • stem: pysy-
  • 1st person singular ending: -n
  • → pysyn = I stay / I will stay

• dictionary form: katsoa = to watch/look

  • stem for conjugation: katso-
  • 1st person singular ending: -n
  • → katson = I watch / I will watch

Finnish doesn’t have a separate “will” future tense; the present is used to talk about future plans when context makes this clear:

• Huomenna pysyn kotona. = Tomorrow I’ll stay home.
• Uudenvuodenaattona pysyn kotona. = On New Year’s Eve I’ll stay home.

Why is elokuvaa in the partitive and not elokuva or elokuvan?

Elokuvaa is the partitive singular of elokuva (movie).

• nominative: elokuva
• genitive: elokuvan
• partitive: elokuvaa

The verb katsoa can take either a partitive or a genitive/nominative object, with a nuance:

• katson elokuvaa
  
  • typically: I’m watching a movie (viewed as an ongoing, not necessarily completed activity; focus on the process)
• katson elokuvan
  
  • typically: I watch the entire movie / I will finish it (viewed as a bounded, complete event; focus on completion)

In many everyday contexts, especially when just describing what you (will) do without stress on finishing, partitive elokuvaa is natural:

• Uudenvuodenaattona pysyn kotona ja katson elokuvaa.
  = On New Year’s Eve I’ll stay home and (be) watch(ing) a movie.

Both elokuvaa and elokuvan are grammatically correct; the choice depends on what nuance you want.

Can I move the words around? For example, is this okay: Pysyn kotona uudenvuodenaattona ja katson elokuvaa?

Yes, Finnish word order is relatively flexible. All of these are grammatical, but they have slightly different emphasis:

• Uudenvuodenaattona pysyn kotona ja katson elokuvaa.
  → Time expression first; emphasizes when: On New Year’s Eve, (what I’ll do is) stay home and watch a movie.

• Pysyn kotona uudenvuodenaattona ja katson elokuvaa.
  → Begins with pysyn kotona; more like: I’ll stay at home on New Year’s Eve and watch a movie.

• Pysyn uudenvuodenaattona kotona ja katson elokuvaa.
  → Slight emphasis on uudenvuodenaattona as the time of staying.

The most neutral, natural version with a time adverbial is often to place the time expression near the beginning, as in the original sentence.

Why is Uudenvuodenaattona capitalized? Are holiday names capitalized in Finnish?

Holiday names in Finnish are usually written with a lowercase initial, unless they start the sentence:

• joulu = Christmas
• pääsiäinen = Easter
• uudenvuodenaatto = New Year’s Eve

In your sentence, Uudenvuodenaattona appears at the beginning of the sentence, so it is capitalized for that reason only. If it were in the middle of a sentence, it would normally be written:

• uudenvuodenaattona pysyn kotona…

What is the difference between pysyä kotona and olla kotona?

Both can appear in similar contexts, but they emphasize slightly different things:

• olla kotona = to be at home

  • neutral, simply states the location:
    
    • Olen kotona. = I’m at home.

• pysyä kotona = to stay at home

  • emphasizes the decision / act of remaining there, not going out:
    
    • Pysyn kotona. = I stay / I’ll stay home (I won’t go out).

In your sentence, pysyn kotona suggests a choice or plan to remain at home for New Year’s Eve, not just a description of where you happen to be.

Why is the essive ending -na here and not -nä?

The essive has two variants: -na and -nä. Which one you use depends on vowel harmony:

• If the word has only back vowels (a, o, u) or back + neutral vowels (e, i), you use -na.
• If the word has any front vowels (ä, ö, y), you use -nä.

Here:

• aatto → back vowel a, o → aattona
• koti → back vowel o, neutral i → special form kotona (still uses -na type)

Examples of -nä:

• yönä (from yö, night)
• päänä (from pää, head)

Is there any special pronunciation issue with Uudenvuodenaattona?

A few points to note:

1. Stress: In Finnish, stress is on the first syllable of the whole word, even in long compounds:

   • UU-den-vuo-de-naat-to-na

2. Long vowels and consonants:

   • Uu in Uuden- is a long [uː].
   • -tt- in aatto is a long [tː].
     Make sure you hold them slightly longer than single u or t.

3. Syllabification: Roughly:

   • Uu-den-vuo-de-naat-to-na

Clear vowel length and consonant length are important in Finnish, as they can change meaning (e.g. tuli “fire” vs. tulli “customs”).

Could I leave out the ja and say …pysyn kotona, katson elokuvaa?

Yes, you can omit ja (and) in some contexts, especially in informal writing or when you want a list-like, slightly more dramatic style:

• Uudenvuodenaattona pysyn kotona, katson elokuvaa.

However, the most neutral, everyday wording uses ja:

• Uudenvuodenaattona pysyn kotona ja katson elokuvaa.

Using ja clearly signals that these are two coordinated actions planned for the same time.