Learn Hardcore Finnish: Muista laittaa ovi kiinni, kun lähdet. - Remember to close the door when you leave.

Muista laittaa ovi kiinni, kun lähdet.

Remember to close the door when you leave.

Breakdown of Muista laittaa ovi kiinni, kun lähdet.

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Questions & Answers about Muista laittaa ovi kiinni, kun lähdet.

What form is Muista, and why doesn’t it end in -t like muistat?

Muista is the 2nd person singular imperative of the verb muistaa (to remember).

muistan = I remember
muistat = you remember
muistaa = he / she remembers
muista! = remember! (said to you, 1 person)

In Finnish, the imperative for “you (singular)” usually drops the final -t you see in the normal present tense (muistat → muista).

So Muista laittaa… literally means “Remember to put…” and functions as a direct command or reminder.

Why is it muista laittaa and not muista laita? In English we say “remember to put”, not “remember put”.

In Finnish, when one verb is followed by another (like “remember to do”, “want to do”, “can do”), the second verb is normally in the basic infinitive form, not in the imperative or a personal form.

muistaa + infinitive → muista laittaa (remember to put)
- not muista laita

Some more parallels:

Haluan syödä. = I want to eat. (not haluan syön)
Voit tulla. = You can come. (not voit tulet)

So the pattern is:

imperative in the first verb (muista)
infinitive in the second verb (laittaa)

That’s why the sentence is Muista laittaa…, not Muista laita….

Does laittaa really mean “to close”? I thought it meant “to put”.

Literally, laittaa means “to put, to place, to set”, but in everyday Finnish it’s very flexible and is used in many “make something be in a certain state/position” expressions.

Here, the pattern is:

laittaa + object + kiinni
→ literally: “put the door closed”
→ idiomatically: “close the door”

So:

laittaa ovi kiinni = close the door
laittaa ikkuna auki = open the window (lit. put the window open)

There is also a more “literal” verb:

sulkea ovi = to close the door

So you could also say:

Muista sulkea ovi, kun lähdet.

But laittaa ovi kiinni is very common, informal, natural speech.

Why is it ovi and not oven or ovea? Which case is this?

Ovi here is in the nominative singular, functioning as the object of laittaa in a result-type structure (laittaa ovi kiinni).

With commands (imperatives) involving a completed action (you fully close the door), the object normally appears as a “total object” in the nominative:

Laita ovi kiinni! = Put the door closed! / Close the door!
Syö omena! = Eat the (whole) apple!

When it’s not imperative, you often see the genitive as the total object:

Laitan oven kiinni. = I will close the door.
Syön omenan. = I will eat the (whole) apple.

So:

Command → ovi (nominative total object)
Statement / non‑imperative → oven (genitive total object)

Ovea (partitive) would suggest an incomplete / ongoing action (e.g. “I am eating some of the apple”), which doesn’t fit here, because the idea is to close the door completely.

What exactly is kiinni? Is it an adjective, an adverb, or something else?

Kiinni is usually classified as an adverb / particle. Its basic meaning is something like:

“closed, shut, attached, stuck, fastened”

In this sentence:

ovi kiinni = the door (is) closed

With laittaa + object + kiinni, kiinni describes the resulting state of the object:

laittaa ovi kiinni = cause the door to be in the state “kiinni” → close the door

You’ll see kiinni in many other contexts:

Ovi on kiinni. = The door is closed.
Pidä se kiinni. = Keep it closed / keep hold of it.
Juna on myöhässä, ja kauppa on jo kiinni. = The train is late, and the shop is already closed.

Why is there a comma before kun? In English we don’t always put one before “when”.

In Finnish, kun lähdet is a subordinate clause (“when you leave”), and the standard rule is to separate subordinate clauses from the main clause with a comma, regardless of word order:

Muista laittaa ovi kiinni, kun lähdet.
Kun lähdet, muista laittaa ovi kiinni.

Both need a comma between the parts.

So, unlike in English (where the comma before when can be optional depending on style), Finnish orthography is more strict: a comma is normally required between the main clause and a kun‑clause.

Why is lähdet in the present tense if the meaning is “when you leave (later)” – isn’t that future?

Finnish does not have a separate future tense. The present tense covers both:

present and
future meanings,

and context tells you which one is meant.

So:

lähdet can mean
- you leave (as a general fact / habit)
- you are leaving (now)
- you will leave (later / when the time comes)

In Muista laittaa ovi kiinni, kun lähdet, the context is “when you (later) leave”, so English uses future, but Finnish simply uses the present form lähdet.

Could I say kun sinä lähdet instead of kun lähdet? Is there any difference?

Yes, you can say kun sinä lähdet, and it’s grammatically correct.

kun lähdet = when you leave
kun sinä lähdet = when you leave (with an explicit pronoun)

In Finnish, the subject pronoun is often dropped, because the person is already clear from the verb ending (-t in lähdet = “you (singular)”).

Adding sinä:

can sound a bit more emphatic, like stressing you in contrast to someone else, or
can just occur in more casual / spoken style with overall heavier pronoun use, depending on context.

Neutral, typical phrasing here is kun lähdet without sinä.

Is Muista laittaa ovi kiinni, kun lähdet polite, or does it sound too direct or bossy?

This sentence is a direct reminder, but in the right context it does not sound rude. It’s very normal in informal speech, e.g.:

a parent to a child
a friend to a friend
someone reminding a roommate

If you want to make it softer / more polite (especially to someone you don’t know well), you can:

Add a softening particle like ‑han / ‑hän:
- Muistathan laittaa oven kiinni, kun lähdet.
  → “Do remember to close the door when you leave, okay?”
Use the plural / formal form muistakaa if talking politely to one stranger or to a group:
- Muistakaa laittaa ovi kiinni, kun lähdette.

But among friends or family, the original Muista laittaa ovi kiinni, kun lähdet is perfectly natural.

Could I say Muista sulkea ovi, kun lähdet instead? Is there any difference in meaning?

Yes, you can absolutely say:

Muista sulkea ovi, kun lähdet.

This means essentially the same thing:

laittaa ovi kiinni = close the door (lit. put the door closed)
sulkea ovi = close the door

Nuances:

sulkea is a bit more straightforward / “dictionary-like” for “to close”.
laittaa ovi kiinni is very common, informal, everyday Finnish, especially in speech.

In most contexts, they are interchangeable in meaning here.

Can the word order be changed, for example Kun lähdet, muista laittaa ovi kiinni?

Yes. Finnish word order is more flexible than English, especially with subordinate clauses. Both are correct:

Muista laittaa ovi kiinni, kun lähdet.
Kun lähdet, muista laittaa ovi kiinni.

The meaning is the same. Placing kun lähdet first puts a little more emphasis on the condition/time (“when you leave…”), but it’s a very minor nuance. Both versions are natural.

Is there a shorter or more “compressed” way to say “when you leave”, like using just one word?

Yes. Finnish can use a verb-based participle structure instead of kun + verb. For example:

Muista laittaa ovi kiinni lähtiessäsi.

Here:

lähtiessäsi = “when you leave / as you (are) leaving”
- from lähteä (to leave)
- lähtiessä = while leaving / when leaving
- ‑si ending = “your / you” (2nd person singular possessor)

Meaning-wise, Muista laittaa ovi kiinni, kun lähdet and
Muista laittaa ovi kiinni lähtiessäsi are very close.

The kun lähdet version is usually easier for learners and completely natural; the lähtiessäsi form is compact and slightly more formal or written-sounding.