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Vuokranantaja lupasi lähettää avaimet heti, kun ensimmäinen vuokra on maksettu.

Vuokranantaja lupasi lähettää avaimet heti, kun ensimmäinen vuokra on maksettu.
The landlord promised to send the keys right away when the first rent has been paid.

Breakdown of Vuokranantaja lupasi lähettää avaimet heti, kun ensimmäinen vuokra on maksettu.

olla
to be
kun
when
lähettää
to send
maksaa
to pay
avain
the key
vuokra
the rent
ensimmäinen
first
luvata
to promise
heti
right away
vuokranantaja
the landlord
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Questions & Answers about Vuokranantaja lupasi lähettää avaimet heti, kun ensimmäinen vuokra on maksettu.

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

Vuokranantaja = vuokra (rent) + -n- (a linking element you often see in compounds) + antaja (giver; from antaa = to give).
So it’s literally rent-giver, i.e. landlord/lessor.

Why is lupasi in the past tense here?

Lupasi is the simple past (imperfect) 3rd person singular of luvata = to promise.
It matches English promised: a completed promise in the past.
Basic pattern: luvata → lupaan (I promise) → lupasi (he/she promised).

Why do we use lähettää (the infinitive) after lupasi?

Many Finnish verbs (including luvata) take the A-infinitive (dictionary form) to express what someone promised/decided/started to do.
So: lupasi lähettää = promised to send.

Why is avaimet (not avaimia) used for “the keys”?

Avaimet is a total object (accusative-looking plural / formally same as nominative plural), meaning the action is viewed as complete: send the keys (all of them/the set).
Avaimia would be partitive, suggesting an incomplete/indefinite amount, like send (some) keys or emphasizing an ongoing/partial action.

What’s the function of heti, kun … and why does it mean “as soon as”?

Heti = immediately/right away.
kun = when.
Together heti kun works like a fixed phrase meaning as soon as:

  • lähettää avaimet heti, kun … = send the keys as soon as …
    It signals “immediately at the moment when the condition becomes true.”
Why is there a comma before kun?

In Finnish, a subordinate clause is normally separated with a comma.
Here, kun ensimmäinen vuokra on maksettu is a subordinate time/condition clause, so the comma is standard.

What exactly is on maksettu? Why not a normal active form?

On maksettu is the perfect passive:

  • on = has/is (3rd person singular of olla)
  • maksettu = passive past participle of maksaa (paid)

So on maksettu = has been paid / is paid (by someone).
It’s used when the doer isn’t important or isn’t mentioned (you don’t need to say who paid—just that payment is completed).

Why is ensimmäinen vuokra in this form—why not something like ensimmäisen vuokran?

Because the clause is passive (on maksettu). In Finnish passive, the object often appears in the nominative when it’s a total/complete object.
So ensimmäinen vuokra behaves like the “object being paid,” but in passive it shows up as nominative.

Compare with an active version:

  • Passive: kun ensimmäinen vuokra on maksettu
  • Active: kun olet maksanut ensimmäisen vuokran (when you have paid the first rent)
Does ensimmäinen vuokra mean “first month’s rent” specifically?

It usually means the first rent payment, which in many contexts is the first month’s rent—but the phrase itself doesn’t explicitly say “month.”
If you want to be more specific, Finnish can say things like:

  • ensimmäisen kuukauden vuokra = the first month’s rent
  • ensimmäinen vuokraerä = the first rent installment
Could the word order be changed, and would it still be correct?

Yes, Finnish word order is flexible, but changes emphasis. For example:

  • Vuokranantaja lupasi lähettää avaimet heti, kun ensimmäinen vuokra on maksettu. (neutral)
  • Heti, kun ensimmäinen vuokra on maksettu, vuokranantaja lupasi lähettää avaimet. (emphasizes the timing/condition first)

Both are grammatical; the original is the most natural “default” order.