Hiljaisuus rauhoittaa minua illalla.

Silence calms me in the evening.

Breakdown of Hiljaisuus rauhoittaa minua illalla.

• minä: me
• illalla: in the evening
• rauhoittaa: to calm
• hiljaisuus: quietness

Questions & Answers about Hiljaisuus rauhoittaa minua illalla.

What is the grammatical subject in Hiljaisuus rauhoittaa minua illalla?

The subject is Hiljaisuus (silence). It’s in the nominative case (the basic dictionary form), and it’s the thing doing the action: silence calms.

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Why is the verb rauhoittaa in that form?

Rauhoittaa is the 3rd person singular present tense form (the same shape as the dictionary form for many verbs).
Because the subject hiljaisuus is singular, the verb is singular: (it) calms.

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Why is minua in the partitive case instead of minut?

Finnish object case often depends on whether the action is seen as:

• ongoing/partial/without a clear endpoint → partitive (minua)
• completed/total/result achieved → total object (often minut)

In Hiljaisuus rauhoittaa minua, the calming is presented as something that happens/helps (a state or ongoing effect), not necessarily a one-time completed result.

You can use minut in some contexts, but it changes the feel:

• Hiljaisuus rauhoitti minut. = the silence calmed me down (to the point that I became calm; more “completed result”)
• Hiljaisuus rauhoittaa minua. = silence calms me / tends to calm me (general/ongoing)

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What case is illalla, and what does it mean literally?

Illalla is adessive case (-lla/-llä). With time expressions, adessive often means at (a time).
So illalla = in the evening / in the evenings / in the evening time depending on context.

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How is illalla different from iltaisin?

Both can translate as in the evening(s), but:

• illalla often points to a specific evening context or “at evening time” (can be habitual too, but less explicitly)
• iltaisin explicitly means in the evenings (habitually, on evenings in general)

So:

• Hiljaisuus rauhoittaa minua illalla. = Silence calms me in the evening.
• Hiljaisuus rauhoittaa minua iltaisin. = Silence calms me in the evenings (as a regular pattern).

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Can I change the word order? Does it change the meaning?

Yes. Finnish word order is flexible, and changes mainly affect emphasis:

• Hiljaisuus rauhoittaa minua illalla. (neutral)
• Illalla hiljaisuus rauhoittaa minua. (emphasizes in the evening)
• Minua hiljaisuus rauhoittaa illalla. (emphasizes me / “as for me…”)

The core meaning stays the same.

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Why is there no word for the in Finnish (like the silence)?

Finnish has no articles (a/the). Definiteness is inferred from context.
So Hiljaisuus can mean silence, the silence, or even quietness depending on what the situation makes clear.

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What does hiljaisuus literally mean, and how is it formed?

Hiljaisuus means silence/quietness (an abstract noun).
It’s built from the adjective hiljainen (quiet) using a common noun-forming pattern that gives an abstract concept (roughly: quiet → quietness).

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Is rauhoittaa transitive here? What’s the object?

Yes, rauhoittaa is transitive: it takes an object (the person/thing being calmed).
The object here is minua (me, partitive).

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Any pronunciation points a native English speaker might miss?

A few common ones:

• Hiljaisuus: the j is like English y in yes (so roughly hil-ya-...), and Finnish double vowels are held longer.
• rauhoittaa: oi is a diphthong; tt is a long consonant (held longer than a single t).
• illalla: ll is long; hold it a bit (not just a quick single l).