Minusta tämän kahvilan sisustus on lämmin ja mukava.

Breakdown of Minusta tämän kahvilan sisustus on lämmin ja mukava.

olla
to be
tämä
this
ja
and
mukava
comfortable
kahvila
the café
lämmin
warm
minusta
I think
sisustus
the interior
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Finnish grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Finnish now

Questions & Answers about Minusta tämän kahvilan sisustus on lämmin ja mukava.

What does Minusta literally mean, and why is it used here?

Minusta is the elative case (minä → minusta) and literally means “from me” or “out of me”.

In this sentence it has the idiomatic meaning “in my opinion / I think”.

So:

  • Minusta tämän kahvilan sisustus on lämmin ja mukava.
    In my opinion, the interior of this café is warm and cozy.

This is a very common way in Finnish to express a personal opinion: use a pronoun in elative (minusta, sinusta, hänestä, meistä, teistä, heistä).


What is the difference between Minusta and Minun mielestäni?

Both mean “in my opinion”, but they differ slightly in style and emphasis:

  • Minusta

    • Shorter and very common in speech.
    • Slightly more neutral and compact.
  • Minun mielestäni (literally “in my opinion / in my mind’s view”)

    • A bit more explicit and sometimes more formal or emphatic.
    • Often used when you want to stress that this is your personal view.

In this sentence you could say either:

  • Minusta tämän kahvilan sisustus on lämmin ja mukava.
  • Minun mielestäni tämän kahvilan sisustus on lämmin ja mukava.

Both are correct; minusta just sounds more natural in everyday conversation.


Why is it tämän kahvilan sisustus and not tämä kahvila?

Because the sentence is talking specifically about the interior/decoration of the café, not the café as a whole.

  • tämä kahvila = this café
  • tämän kahvilan sisustus = the interior/decoration of this café

Grammatically:

  • tämä kahvila → nominative (basic form)
  • tämän kahvilan → genitive (possessive/“of” form)
    • tämä → tämän
    • kahvila → kahvilan

So tämän kahvilan sisustus literally: “this café’s interior” or “the interior of this café”.


Why is tämän kahvilan in the genitive case?

Because it is showing possession or belonging: whose interior?

  • kuka? mikä? – sisustus (interior)
  • kenen? minkä?tämän kahvilan (this café’s)

In Finnish, the thing that owns or contains something is put in the genitive:

  • talon ovi – the house’s door / the door of the house
  • auton väri – the car’s color / the colour of the car
  • tämän kahvilan sisustusthis café’s interior / the interior of this café

So tämän kahvilan modifies sisustus as its “owner.”


What exactly does sisustus mean, and how is it different from other similar words?

Sisustus means interior decoration / furnishings / how the inside is decorated and arranged.

It includes things like:

  • furniture
  • colours
  • lighting
  • style and atmosphere created by objects

Compare with:

  • sisätila – the interior space (more physical/architectural)
  • sisältöcontent (what something contains: information, items, etc.)
  • sisälläinside (adverb: “in / inside”)

In this café sentence, sisustus focuses on how the café looks and feels inside due to its decor.


Why is it on lämmin ja mukava and not something like lämmintä ja mukavaa?

Here lämmin and mukava are predicate adjectives describing sisustus, which is singular and in the nominative case:

  • sisustus on lämmin ja mukava
    the interior is warm and cozy

Predicate adjectives normally appear in the nominative when:

  • the subject is countable and whole
  • you’re making a simple statement of quality/identity

You might see the partitive forms (lämmintä, mukavaa) when:

  • you’re describing something as incomplete / ongoing / to some extent:
    • Sisustus on lämmintä ja mukavaa katsella.
      (More like “It is warm and pleasant to look at” – different structure.)
  • or when the adjective is object-like in some constructions.

In this straightforward “X is Y and Z” sentence, nominative (lämmin, mukava) is the standard choice.


Could I say Minä mielestä tämä kahvilan sisustus on lämmin ja mukava?

No, that sentence is ungrammatical. There are two problems:

  1. Minä mielestä is wrong. You need either:

    • Minusta
    • Minun mielestäni
  2. tämä kahvilan is wrong; you need the demonstrative in genitive too:

    • tämän kahvilan

Correct options include:

  • Minusta tämän kahvilan sisustus on lämmin ja mukava.
  • Minun mielestäni tämän kahvilan sisustus on lämmin ja mukava.

So the pattern is:

  • Minusta / Minun mielestäni + [genitive owner] + [noun] + on + [adjective(s)]

Can Minusta appear later in the sentence, or must it start the sentence?

It can move; Finnish word order is relatively flexible. For example:

  • Minusta tämän kahvilan sisustus on lämmin ja mukava.
  • Tämän kahvilan sisustus on minusta lämmin ja mukava.

Both are correct and natural.

Nuances:

  • Minusta at the beginning can feel like you’re framing what follows as your view right away.
  • … on minusta lämmin ja mukava can sound a bit like an afterthought: “is, to me, warm and cozy.”

But in everyday speech, both are common, and the difference is subtle.


Is kahvila the only word for “café,” and why does it become kahvilan?

Kahvila is the standard word for “café / coffee shop.”

It changes form according to case:

  • kahvila – basic form (nominative)
  • kahvilan – genitive: “of the café / café’s”
  • kahvilassa – inessive: “in the café”
  • kahvilaan – illative: “into the café”
  • etc.

In tämän kahvilan sisustus, we use kahvilan because it’s the genitive owner of sisustus:
the interior of this cafétämän kahvilan sisustus.


Could I instead say Tässä kahvilassa on lämmin ja mukava sisustus? Does it mean the same thing?

You can say it, and it is understandable, but the focus shifts slightly.

  • Tässä kahvilassa on lämmin ja mukava sisustus.
    Literally: “In this café there is a warm and cozy interior.”

Whereas:

  • Tämän kahvilan sisustus on lämmin ja mukava.
    “This café’s interior is warm and cozy.”

Both describe the café’s interior, but:

  • Tämän kahvilan sisustus on…
    → focuses on the interior as a thing and describes its quality.
  • Tässä kahvilassa on… sisustus.
    → focuses a bit more on what this café has (it has a warm and cozy interior).

Both are correct; the original is slightly more neutral and direct when describing the interior itself.