Learn Hardcore Finnish: Minulla on vielä vartti aikaa ennen kokousta. - I still have a quarter of an hour before the meeting.

Minulla = on me / at me (adessive case, -lla/-llä)
on = is/are So literally it’s like At me there is ..., which corresponds to English I have ....
This same pattern is used broadly: Minulla on auto (I have a car), Hänellä on kiire (He/She is in a hurry).

What exactly is minulla grammatically?

Minulla is minä (I) in the adessive case (-lla), often used for:

possession (Minulla on ...)
location/on-surface (pöydällä = on the table)
“with/at” type meanings in some expressions

Here it marks the possessor: minulla on = I have.

Why is it vartti aikaa and not vartti aika?

Because aikaa is the partitive singular of aika (time). After expressions of an amount/quantity (especially with time, substance, mass nouns), Finnish often uses the partitive:

vartti aikaa = “(a) quarter hour of time”
kaksi tuntia aikaa = two hours of time
vähän aikaa = a little time

Using aika (nominative) would sound wrong in this structure.

What is vartti—is it formal, and can I say 15 minuuttia instead?

Vartti is a very common, everyday word meaning a quarter (of an hour) = 15 minutes. It’s neutral in tone (not slangy), but quite conversational. You can absolutely say:

Minulla on vielä 15 minuuttia aikaa ennen kokousta. That’s a bit more explicit; vartti is just more compact.

Why does ennen take kokousta (partitive) and not some other case?

Ennen is a preposition/postposition that typically requires the partitive:

ennen kokousta = before the meeting
ennen joulua = before Christmas
ennen minua = before me

So kokous → partitive kokousta is the normal governed form after ennen.

How does kokous become kokousta? Where did the -ou- come from?

That’s normal stem behavior in Finnish inflection:

base form: kokous
stem used in cases: kokoukse- / kokou- depending on the ending The partitive singular is formed here as kokousta.

This is similar to other -us/-ys nouns that change in the stem when you add endings.

What does vielä do here, and where can it go in the sentence?

Vielä means something like still / yet and adds the idea that time remains. In this sentence it emphasizes: you haven’t run out of time; you still have 15 minutes.

Placement is flexible but changes emphasis slightly:

Minulla on vielä vartti aikaa... (neutral: still have)
Minulla on vartti aikaa vielä... (emphasizes that the remaining amount is a quarter)
Vielä minulla on vartti aikaa... (more contrastive; less common)

The given word order is the most natural.

Is it necessary to say minulla? Could I drop it?

Often yes, if the context makes it clear who you mean:

On vielä vartti aikaa ennen kokousta. This can sound a bit more general/impersonal, like “There’s still a quarter hour before the meeting.”

If you specifically want I (not we/you/people in general), keeping minulla is safest.

Could I say meillä instead, and what would that mean?

Yes:

Meillä on vielä vartti aikaa ennen kokousta. That means we (or “we here / our group”) still have 15 minutes.

Meillä is we in the adessive case, used the same way as minulla.

How would I turn this into a question in Finnish?

You can make it a yes/no question by adding -ko/-kö to the verb:

Onko minulla vielä vartti aikaa ennen kokousta? = “Do I still have a quarter hour…?” Or more conversationally:
Onko vielä vartti aikaa ennen kokousta?

A content question could be:

Kuinka paljon aikaa minulla on vielä ennen kokousta? = “How much time do I still have…?”

What’s the difference between ennen kokousta and ennen kuin kokous alkaa?

ennen kokousta = before the meeting (a noun phrase; compact)
ennen kuin kokous alkaa = before the meeting starts (a full clause; more explicit about the start)

If you want to be precise about starting time, the ennen kuin clause is often clearer.

What would the negative version look like?

Negation uses the negative verb ei and the main verb becomes ole:

Minulla ei ole enää varttia aikaa ennen kokousta. = “I don’t have a quarter hour left anymore…”

Notice vartti often becomes partitive (varttia) in negatives/quantities, which is very natural here.