Breakdown of Avaan ikkunan tuulettaakseni keittiön ennen kuin alan tehdä ruokaa.
Questions & Answers about Avaan ikkunan tuulettaakseni keittiön ennen kuin alan tehdä ruokaa.
Finnish usually drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the person/number.
- avaan = I open (1st person singular)
- alan = I begin
You can add minä for emphasis/contrast (like I specifically), but it’s normally unnecessary: Minä avaan ikkunan…
avaan is the 1st person singular present tense of avata (to open).
- Dictionary form: avata
- Stem: avaa-
- 1st person ending: -n → avaan
So: avata → avaan = I open / I’m opening (context decides).
ikkunan is the object form here (often called the -n object, traditionally “genitive/accusative”). It commonly appears with a complete, single action affecting the whole object: open the (whole) window.
- ikkuna = window (basic form / nominative)
- ikkunan = object form used here with avaan
Formally, ikkunan looks like the genitive singular ending (-n), but in many grammar descriptions it functions as an accusative-like object form in sentences like this. Practically for a learner:
- If the verb is a normal transitive verb and you mean a complete object, you often get -n: avaan ikkunan.
So you can think of it as the object form for a complete action, even though it matches genitive in shape.
tuulettaakseni means in order to air out (… ) / so that I can air out (… ). It’s the purpose infinitive in Finnish:
- Verb: tuulettaa = to air out / ventilate
- Purpose form: tuulettaakse-
- Possessive suffix: -ni = my / I → tuulettaakseni
So it literally encodes my doing it for the purpose of…, which is why there’s no separate word for I inside that phrase.
You can, and it’s common. The nuance is slightly different:
- tuulettaakseni keittiön = very explicitly in order to air out the kitchen (purpose; strongly links to my intention)
- tuulettamaan keittiön = (I open the window) to air out the kitchen (more like “go and do it”; an -maan/-mään form often used for going/starting to do something)
Both are natural; tuulettaakseni is a bit more “purpose/intent” focused.
Because the sentence treats airing out the kitchen as a complete, bounded result: the goal is to air out the kitchen (as a whole). That commonly takes the -n object: tuulettaa keittiö(n).
If you used keittiötä (partitive), it would emphasize an ongoing, unbounded process like “air the kitchen (some / for a while)” rather than a clear “air it out” goal. Both can be possible depending on meaning, but keittiön fits the intended “air it out” purpose well.
ennen is used with a noun phrase:
- ennen ruokaa = before the meal
ennen kuin is used before a clause with a verb: - ennen kuin alan tehdä ruokaa = before I start making food
So kuin is basically the marker that what follows is a full clause.
Both are used in Finnish, and both can be correct. With alkaa (to begin/start):
- alan tehdä ruokaa = I start to make/cook food (very common)
- alan tekemään ruokaa = also common; can feel slightly more “moving into the activity / starting up into doing it”
In everyday language, many speakers treat them as near-equivalents, and which one is chosen can depend on style, region, or the specific verb phrase.
ruokaa is partitive because making/cooking food is typically an unbounded activity here: you’re not specifying a fixed, completed amount or a single finished “unit” of food.
- ruoka = food (basic form)
- ruokaa = partitive, often used for some/any food or an ongoing process
If you were talking about a specific, completed item/portion, another object form could be used (depending on context), but tehdä ruokaa almost always uses the partitive.
A helpful way to chunk it is:
1) Avaan ikkunan = I open the window
2) tuulettaakseni keittiön = in order to air out the kitchen
3) ennen kuin alan tehdä ruokaa = before I start making food
So the core is I open the window, and everything else gives purpose and time.