Odotan ulkona, kunnes ystäväni avaa oven, jotta pääsen sisään.

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Breakdown of Odotan ulkona, kunnes ystäväni avaa oven, jotta pääsen sisään.

• minun: my
• ystävä: the friend
• ulkona: outside

Questions & Answers about Odotan ulkona, kunnes ystäväni avaa oven, jotta pääsen sisään.

Why does Odotan end in -n? Where is the word for I?

Odotan is the 1st person singular present form of the verb odottaa (to wait).
Finnish usually doesn’t need a separate subject pronoun because the verb ending already shows the person:

• (minä) odotan = I wait / I’m waiting

You can add minä for emphasis or contrast, but it’s normally omitted.

What exactly is ulkona grammatically? Is it a case form?

Ulkona means outside (as a location: outdoors). It’s best treated as a fixed locative adverb, historically related to the essive ending -na/-nä, but in modern Finnish you can just learn it as a set form.

Common related forms:

• ulos = (to) outside (movement out)
• ulkona = outside (being outside)
• ulkoa = from outside

Why is there a comma before kunnes?

Because kunnes ystäväni avaa oven is a subordinate clause (until my friend opens the door). Finnish normally separates a main clause and a subordinate clause with a comma:

• Odotan ulkona, kunnes ...

Does kunnes always mean ? How is it used?