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Tämä on tavallinen kokous, joten pidän puhelimen äänettömällä.

Tämä on tavallinen kokous, joten pidän puhelimen äänettömällä.
This is an ordinary meeting, so I keep the phone on silent.

Breakdown of Tämä on tavallinen kokous, joten pidän puhelimen äänettömällä.

minä
I
olla
to be
tämä
this
-llä
on
äänetön
silent
joten
so
pitää
to keep
kokous
meeting
tavallinen
regular
puhelin
phone
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Questions & Answers about Tämä on tavallinen kokous, joten pidän puhelimen äänettömällä.

Why does the sentence start with Tämä on? What exactly does tämä refer to?

Tämä means this and is a demonstrative pronoun. Here it refers to the situation/event you’re in (the meeting): This is a normal meeting...
Finnish often uses tämä (or se) where English might say this meeting explicitly, but you can also say Tämä kokous on tavallinen if you want to mention kokous right away.

Why is it tavallinen kokous and not something like tavallista kokousta?

Because this part is a normal noun phrase in the nominative: tavallinen (adjective) + kokous (noun).
In Finnish, adjectives usually agree with the noun in case and number. Since kokous is nominative singular, tavallinen is also nominative singular.

What does joten do, and why is there a comma before it?

joten means so / therefore, introducing a result or consequence:
This is a normal meeting, so I’ll keep my phone on silent.
A comma before joten is very common in Finnish (especially in writing) when it links two full clauses.

Why is it pidän? Where does that form come from?

pidän is the 1st person singular present form of pitää (to keep / to hold).
Conjugation (present):

  • minä pidän = I keep
  • sinä pidät = you keep
  • hän pitää = he/she keeps

The change pitää → pidän is a normal Finnish pattern (consonant gradation + verb ending).

Why doesn’t Finnish include minä (I) here?

Finnish often drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the person.
pidän unambiguously means I keep, so Minä pidän... is optional and would add emphasis (like I specifically, as opposed to someone else).

Why is it puhelimen and not puhelinta?

This is about the object case: puhelimen is the total object (often genitive in singular), while puhelinta would be partitive.
Using puhelimen suggests a complete, bounded action: you’re setting/keeping the phone in a particular state (on silent) as a definite choice for the meeting.
Puhelinta could sound more like an ongoing/indefinite “handling/using the phone” situation, which doesn’t fit as neatly here.

What case is äänettömällä, and why is it in that case?

äänettömällä is the adessive case (-lla/-llä), which often means on / at / with.
In everyday Finnish, adessive is used to express being “on a mode/setting,” especially with phones:

  • puhelin on äänettömällä = the phone is on silent (mode)
    So pidän puhelimen äänettömällä = I keep the phone on silent.
What is the base form of äänettömällä, and how is it built?

Base adjective: äänetön = silent / noiseless (literally “without sound”)
Then:

  • stem: äänettömä- (a common stem shape for this adjective)
  • adessive ending: -llä
    So: äänettömällä = on silent (mode).
Does the present tense here mean “I am keeping” or “I will keep”?

It can cover both, depending on context. Finnish present tense often works for near-future intentions too.
In a meeting context, pidän is naturally read as I’ll keep (my phone) on silent / I’m keeping it on silent (during this meeting).

Are there alternative ways to say this sentence that sound more natural in speech?

Yes—some common variants:

  • Tää on ihan tavallinen kokous, niin pidän puhelimen äänettömällä. (more spoken: tää, ihan, niin)
  • Tämä on tavallinen kokous, joten laitan puhelimen äänettömälle. (laitan = I’ll put/set; focuses on the action of switching it)
  • Pidän puhelimen äänettömällä, koska tämä on tavallinen kokous. (reordered with koska = because)